* It being one of the many peculiar features of Jack’s upbringing that (1) he had a perpetual sparring partner (Bob)-perpetual in the sense that they slept in the same bed at night and, as brothers do, fought all day-against whom he was evenly matched, and (2) at the age when every boy engages in mock sword-fight, he and Bob happened to suddenly find themselves living in a military barracks, where their duels served as free entertainment for large numbers of men who actually did know a few things about fighting with swords, and who found the entertainment lacking if it was not well played, both in a technical sense (blows had to be delivered and parried in some way that was realistic to their discerning eyes) and in a dramatic sense (extra points scored, and extra food thrown in their direction, for enhancements such as hanging by the knees from joists and fighting upside-down, swinging like apes from ropes, etc.). The result being that from a young age the Shaftoe boys had sword-fighting abilities considerably above their station in life (most people like them never came into contact with a sword at all, unless it was with the edge of the blade in the last instant of their life), but limited to the type of sword called the spadroon-a cut-andthrust weapon-which, they’d been warned, might not be very effective against Gentlemen armed with long slender poky rapiers and trained to insert them deftly through narrow gaps in one’s defenses. The Janissary-blade was a rough Mahometan equivalent of a spadroon, therefore, ideally matched to Jack’s style, or Bob’s for that matter. He waved it around dramatically.
* And of her husband, Duke Ernst August.
* Louis XIV of France.
* William of Orange.
* William of Orange.
* King Louis XIV of France-not really Monmouth’s uncle, but the brother of the widower of the sister of his illegitimate father, as well as the son of the brother of his grandmother, and many other connexions besides.
* A quartering of elements old (fleurs-de-lis, denoting their ancient connections to the royal family) and new (Negro-heads in iron neck-collars).
* It dropped from 572 to 250 when word of Monmouth’s rebellion spread.
* E.g., Nassau, Katsenellenbogen, Dietz, Vianden, Meurs.
* The flying jib downhaul.
* The Duke of Northumbria was the bastard son of Charles II by his mistress Barbara Palmer, nee Villiers, Duchess of Castlemaine.
* The Duke of Richmond was the bastard son of Charles II by his mistress Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth.
* The Duke of St. Alban’s was the bastard son of Charles II by his mistress Nell Gwyn, the nubile comedienne and apple-woman.
*
The name of Hexagram 3 of the I Ching, or 010001, that being the encryption key for the subliminal message embedded in the script of this letter.
*
Darkening of the Light: Hexagram 36 of the I Ching, or 000101.
*
Increase: Hexagram 42 of the I Ching, or 110001.
*
Family: Hexagram 37 of the I Ching, or 110101.
*
Break-through: Hexagram 43 of the I Ching, or 011111.
MEMBERS OF THE NOBILITYwent by more than one name: their family surnames and Christian names, but also their titles. For example, the younger brother of King Charles II had the family name Stuart and was baptized James, and so might be called James Stuart; but for most of his life he was the Duke of York, and so might also be referred to, in the third person anyway, as “York” (but in the second person as “Your Royal Highness”). Titles frequently changed during a person’s lifetime, as it was common during this period for commoners to be ennobled, and nobles of lower rank to be promoted. And so not only might a person have several names at any one moment, but certain of those names might change as he acquired new titles through ennoblement, promotion, conquest, or (what might be considered a combination of all three) marriage.
This multiplicity of names will be familiar to many readers who dwell on the east side of the Atlantic, or who read a lot of books like this. To others it may be confusing or even maddening. The following Dramatis Personae may be of help in resolving ambiguities.
If consulted too early and often, it may let cats out of bags by letting the reader know who is about to die, and who isn’t.
The compiler of such a table faces a problem similar to the one that bedeviled Leibniz when trying to organize his patron’s library. The entries (books in Leibniz’s case, personages here) must be arranged in a linear fashion according to some predictable scheme. Below, they are alphabetized by name. But since more than one name applies to many of the characters, it is not always obvious where the entry should be situated. Here I have sacrificed consistency for ease of use by placing each entry under the name that is most commonly used in the book. So, for example, Louis-Francois de Lavardac, duc d’Arcachon, is under “A” rather than “L” because he is almost always called simply the duc d’Arcachon in the story. But Knott Bolstrood, Count Penistone, is under “B” because he is usually called Bolstrood. Cross-references to the main entries are spotted under “L” and “P,” respectively.
Entries that are relatively reliable, according to scholarly sources, are in Roman type. Entries in italics contain information that is more likely to produce confusion, misunderstanding, severe injury, and death if relied upon by time travelers visiting the time and place in question.
ANGLESEY, LOUIS: 1648-. Earl of Upnor. Son of Thomas More Anglesey. Courtier and friend of the Duke of Monmouth during the Interregnum and, after the Restoration, at Trinity College, Cambridge.
ANGLESEY, PHILLIP: 1645-. Count Sheerness. Son of Thomas More Anglesey.
ANGLESEY, THOMASMORE: 1618-1679. Duke of Gunfleet. A leading Cavalier and a member of Charles II’s court in exile during the Interregnum. After the Restoration, one of the A’s in Charles II’s CABAL (which see). Relocated to France during the Popish Plot troubles, died there.
ANNEIOF ENGLAND: 1665-1714. Daughter of James II by his first wife, Anne Hyde.
APTHORP, RICHARD: 1631-. Businessman and banker. One of theA ’s in Charles II’s CABAL (which see). A founder of the Bank of England.
d’ARCACHON, DUC: 1634-. Louis-Francois de Lavardac. A cousin to Louis XIV. Builder, and subsequently Admiral, of the French Navy.
d’ARCACHON, ETIENNE: 1662-. Etienne de Lavardac. Son and heir of Louis-Francois de Lavardac, duc d’Arcachon.
d’ARTAGNAN, CHARLES DEBATZ-CASTELMORE: c. 1620-1673. French musketeer and memoirist.
ASHMOLE, SIRELIAS: 1617-1692. Astrologer, alchemist, autodidact, Comptroller and Auditor of the Excise, collector of curiosities, and founder of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum.
D’AVAUX, JEAN-ANTOINE DEMESMES, COMTE: French ambassador to the Dutch Republic, later an advisor to James II during his campaign in Ireland.
BOLSTROOD, GOMER: 1645-. Son of Knott. Dissident agitator, later an immigrant to New England and a furniture maker there.
BOLSTROOD, GREGORY: 1600-1652. Dissident preacher. Founder of the Puritan sect known as the Barkers.
BOLSTROOD, KNOTT: 1628-1682. Son of Gregory. Ennobled as Count Penistone and made Secretary of State by Charles II. The B in Charles II’s CABAL (which see).
BOYLE, ROBERT: 1627-1691. Chemist, member of the Experimental Philosophical Club at Oxford, Fellow of the Royal Society.
VONBOYNEBURG, JOHANNCHRISTIAN: 1622-1672. An early patron of Leibniz in Mainz.
CABAL, THE: unofficial name of Charles II’s post-Restoration cabinet, loosely modeled after Louis XIV’s Conseil d’en-Haut, which is to say that each member had a general area of responsibility, but the boundaries were vague and overlapping (see table).