Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of old London!

PART I: "THE HA’PENNY HORRIDS," 0:00 — 49:00:

• 01:10: TODAY’S TERRIBLE TIDBIT — Jan. 8, 1851: A little chimney-sweeper boy who suffocated in the factory chimney he was cleaning, because the proprietor did not let it cool completely before sending him in, on Jan. 8, 1851. From Dickens’ Dreadful Almanac, a book by Cate Ludlow, 2010.
• 02:50: HANGED TODAY — Jan. 8, 1813: A new Ha’penny Horrid feature! January 8, 1813, three Luddites were hanged for murder after allegedly ambushing and killing industrialist William Horsfall on the high road at Crosland Moor. More details: https://www.executedtoday.com/2013/01/08/1813-yorkshire-luddites-william-horsfall/ .
• 05:20: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapter 78-79: You’re going to think we’ve gotten our Horrids and Torrids mixed up. In Chapter 78, Arabella pours her heart out to Big Ben regarding her feelings of guilt and shame for having put Johanna up to the secret-agent-in-Todd’s-shop wheeze. He, unfortunately, misinterprets her statement as a confession that she has gotten pregnant somehow, and we get some much-needed laughs out of that! And then in Chapter 79, Colonel Jeffery gives us all a fantastic demonstration of how to screw up a confession of love, when he tries to get Arabella to take him on as a boyfriend.
• 36:00: BROADSIDE BALLAD: A “catchpenny” account of an entitled squire who lusted after a maiden who belonged to another, and, finding himself alone with her in a quiet place, escalated his suit to violence, then double-murdered his way out of the ensuing difficulty when her beau came on the scene. From Curiosities of Street Literature, a book by Charles Hindley, 1871.
• 40:15: HIGHWAYMAN CULTURE (THE NEWGATE CHRONICLES): In the 1600s and 1700s, the roads of England were plagued with banditti, and the most surprising people, from shopkeepers to members of the King’s Guard, chose a life of violent crime. James Whitney (hanged in 1694) is a great example. (Image: Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, via romantic-circles.org, a peer-reviewed scholarly Website devoted to Romantic-period literature and culture. More on highwayman Whitney: https://romantic-circles.org/gallery/image/trwe-effigies-james-whitney-notorious-highwayman .

PART II: "THE TWOPENNY TORRIDS," 50:00 — 1:28:30:

• 50:20: BLACK BESS; or, THE KNIGHT OF THE ROAD (starring HIGHWAYMAN DICK TURPIN), Chapter 45: Dick and Tom flee, hotly pursued by the officers, who chase them all day. They just make it to a forest, which they plunge into. Unable to shake their pursuers, they turn at bay behind a great fallen tree and draw their swords. But Tom has been hit and has lost a lot of blood. Things are looking bleak for our heroes!
• 1:11:00: SOME STREET POETRY from an 1830s “broadside”: "The Blooming Lady,” a ballad of a fancy toff’s bride, worth £500,000 on her own, who ran off with a handsome servant … and her £500k.
• 1:14:30: ONE OR TWO VERY NAUGHTY COCK-AND-HEN-CLUB SONGS: "Noses to Faces and Tails to Arses” (about a frustrated farmer who finds his village parson is taking too great an interest in “prayer services” with his pretty wife)
• 1:18:50: A FEW MILDLY DIRTY JOKES from what passed in 1830 for a dirty joke book: "The Joke-Cracker."

*The Barony of Dunwitch is located in a wood west of Arkham (where, as H.P. Lovecraft put it, “the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut; there are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight.”) Actually it is a good 3,000 miles west of Arkham.

FLASH TERMS:

A full glossary of the flash-cant terms used in this episode at https://pennydread.com/discord .

Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch, for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of old London!

PART I: “The HALF-CROWN CAMPIES” segment: 0:00 — 33:20:

• 01:27: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE; or, THE FEAST OF BLOOD, Chapter 33: Varney quits Ratford Abbey and walks to Bannerworth Hall; although the moon has not yet risen, he shows great familiarity with the grounds and is able to make his way almost blind. By listening to him muttering, we gather that the quest he is on is one which he hopes will furnish him with sufficient money to make his final £1000 payment early, and thus be spared the dread of the stranger’s last visit. But soft: is that a footstep on the garden path? Someone else is also walking abroad in the garden on this pitch-dark night. Who could it be?
• 24:35: BROADSIDE CATCHPENNY: An account of a couple of titled Regency roysterers on a spree, in which one bets the other £5,000 (about £600,000 today — $800,000 to $1.2 million in USD, CAD, AUD or NZD) that he can carry him on his shoulders nine times around St. James’s Square … with a twist.
• 28:50: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: A “Tiger King” moment for the Regency era: A lioness escapes from a private zoo and attacked the Exeter Mail coach, severely wounding a horse and killing a brave dog and frightening the passengers half to death.

PART II: "THE SIXPENNY SPOOKIES," 33:47 — 1:04:30:

• 34:12: EARLY VICTORIAN GHOSTLY SHORT STORY, TO-WIT: Count Magnus, by M.R. James; Part 1 of 2 parts: A tour-guide writer named Mr. Wraxall comes to a town called Roebeck, family seat of an aristocratic family called De La Gardie. One of the De La Gardies, a man so cruel, brutal, and sinister that his reputation lingers even 300 years later, was a character named Count Magnus. Mr. Wraxall is fascinated by Count Magnus, and as he prosecutes his research he starts to see that Count Magnus has been on something called the “Black Pilgrimmage.” But no one will tell him what that is …
• 50:43: A SHORT GHOST STORY from the scrapbook of Charles Lindley, Viscount Halifax: Staying up late in the library of an old manor house to study some rare books in its library, our correspondent finds he is not alone ….
• 1:02:00: A FEW SQUEAKY-CLEAN DAD JOKES from the early-1800s' most popular joke book: "Joe Miller's Jests; or, The Wit's Vade-mecum."

GLOSSARY OF FLASH TERMS USED IN THIS EPISODE:

• BLOODS, BUCKS AND CHOICE SPIRITS: Disorderly young roisterers on a spree.
• KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellows wandering amok in meadows and ditches, trying to stagger home.
• CORINTHIAN: A fancy toff or titled swell. Used here as a reference to Corinthian Tom, the quintessential Regency rake depicted in Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (usually referred to as "Tom and Jerry").
• CHAFFING-CRIB: A room where drinking and bantering are going on.
• LACED WOMEN: Virtuous women.
• GENTRY COVES: Gentlemen of high social standing.
• SNICKER: Small tumbler.
• BLUE RUIN: Gin, with the implication that it’s a cheaper grade.
• BITE YOUR NAME IN IT: Take a very big drink.
• JOE MILLER: A player at Drury-lane, in the early 1700s, who was famous for a Leslie Nielsen style of stone-faced comedy. Mr. Miller was always so serious (and don’t call him Shirley) that he was hilarious on stage. When he died leaving some dependents uncared-for, the jestbook was created by Joe’s friends as a sort of inside joke, as a fundraiser to support his bereaved family.
• RED WAISTCOAT: Uniform apparel of the Bow-street Runners, an early London police force replaced by the New Model Police (who dressed in blue rather than red) in 1839.
• GAMMONERS: Swindlers or bullshitters.
• ROMONERS: Gammoners who pretend to have occult powers.
• NEW DANCING-ACADEMY: The treadmill at Brixton Prison.

There are more! But we’re out of space here. A full glossary of all the flash-cant terms used in this episode is at ⁠https://pennydread.com/discord⁠ in the "#season-4-episodes" thread.

Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of old London!

PART I: "THE HA’PENNY HORRIDS," 0:00 — 41:25:

• 01:20: DICKENS' DREADFUL ALMANAC for today: Three years before, she walked in on a murder that had just been committed …
• 03:35: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapter 76-77: We now cut away to Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop. It is thronged with eager customers and doing a land-office trade. But Mrs. Lovett is nervous. Her captive cook has suddenly started being super punctual and cheerful, which makes her suspicious. She decides she’s going to disappear from the scene; but she’s a little worried about that cook. If he pulls whatever stunt he’s scheming about too soon, it could ruin everything …
• 33:00: STREET BROADSIDE: A “catchpenny” broadside about a gang of highway robbers who murder a newlywed couple, and then one by one fall victim to deadly accidents.
• 36:35: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: An account of an evil servant of a linen bleacher who murdered a neighbor kid to cover up his theft. In the 1820s, chlorine having not yet been invented, linen was still bleached by boiling it in lye and then laying it out on grass for seven days.

PART II: "THE TWOPENNY TORRIDS," 42:00 — 1:19:45:

• 42:30: BLACK BESS; or, THE KNIGHT OF THE ROAD (starring HIGHWAYMAN DICK TURPIN), Chapter 43-44: After our boys have a night’s rest courtesy of a family of gypsies — a noble and honorable people provided one respects their customs — the lads push on, keeping a sharp eye out for any chance to “do some business.” They soon come upon what looks like a wedding party! Who doesn’t want to be robbed at pistol-point on his wedding-night? The groom, that’s who! Who does? His newly-wedded bride, it seems. Sounds ridiculous, right? You’ll soon see.
• 1:02:20: SOME STREET POETRY from an 1830s “broadside”: "The Blooming Goddess” and “18s.-A-Week.”
• 1:07:20: ONE OR TWO VERY NAUGHTY COCK-AND-HEN-CLUB SONGS: "The bug destroyers” (about some exterminators called to purge the bedbugs from a whorehouse) and “Up the Flue; or, The Knowing Clergyman,” about a frisky chimney-sweep.
• 1:13:10: A FEW MILDLY DIRTY JOKES from what passed in 1830 for a dirty joke book: "The Joke-Cracker.

GLOSSARY OF FLASH TERMS USED IN THIS EPISODE:

• SPICE ISLANDERS: A punning reference to swindlers. A mace is a swindle, but mace is also a spice.
• SMASHERS: Counterfeit-coin makers.
• KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellows wandering amok in meadows and ditches, trying to stagger home.
• CORINTHIAN: A fancy toff or titled swell. Used here as a reference to Corinthian Tom, the quintessential Regency rake depicted in Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (usually referred to as "Tom and Jerry").
• CHAFFING-CRIB: A room where drinking and bantering are going on.
• BAWDY DAME: A brothel madam.
• BUGGER: Then as now, a reference to sodomy.
• KNOWING CLERGYMAN: A rakish chimney sweep. (Like clergymen, chimney sweeps were always dressed in black.)
• CHUMMY: A chimney sweep’s boy helper sent to crawl into chimneys to clean them. These kids had a hard life, and often a short one.
• BLOW HIS BAGS OUT: Give him a really good feed.
• TO BE BURNT: To be infected with an STD.
• SHERRY OFF: To run away at top speed. Adopted from the nautical term "to sheer off."
• FLATS: Suckers.
• FLY TO: Wised-up about, aware of.
• FAKEMENT: Plot or scheme.
• TOPPING COVE: Hangman.
• THE OLD STONE JUG: Newgate Prison, or prisons in general.
• PADDINGTON FAIR: Execution day at Tyburn Tree gallows, which was in Paddington parish; during the years when the “Bloody Code” was in effect, and one could get “scragged” for stealing less than 10 modern dollars’ worth of goods, it was also a blackly humourous pun, as “pad” was Flash slang for “thief” or “robber.”