Need definitions help for Glossary

[GrannyGrump]

I am re-working some of my previous Edith Nesbit uploads, to add glossaries.

I have run across a few terms that have defeated my googling skills. I am hoping someone familiar with British idioms from the late 19th century might have some clues for me.

bakus :
‘There’s no one at home,’ said Mrs. Beale; ‘wait a bit till I go along to the bakus with the meat, and I’ll fetch it along.’

backhouse? some sort of pantry or larder?

all-wooler:
"He is a vegetarian and a Primitive Social Something, and an all-wooler, and things like that."
I presume someone who prefers all-wool fabrics or general purity in products, but I shouldn't presume...

susansides:
When the train began to move he did try to open a carriage door but it stuck, and the train went faster, and just as he got it open a large heavy porter caught him by the collar and pulled him off the train, saying: ‘Now, young shaver, no susansides on this ’ere line, if you please.’

Again, a presumption of some version of a free-loader stealing a free ride? (like hobos stealing rides on freight trains?)


My, what a hundred years can do to the language...

Any advice gratefully appreciated, thanks.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by GrannyGrump

susansides:
When the train began to move he did try to open a carriage door but it stuck, and the train went faster, and just as he got it open a large heavy porter caught him by the collar and pulled him off the train, saying: ‘Now, young shaver, no susansides on this ’ere line, if you please.’

After looking at a couple of hits in Google Books, I believe that susanside is a slang term for suicide.

As for "to the bakus," maybe this is slang for "to the baker's."

[GrannyGrump]

Wow, I didn't get any susansides hits except for some Facebook links, etc. for someone named Susan Sides. Your suggestion sounds right. Thank you.

Bakus, I am not sure... taking meat to the baker sounds strange.

[tuskin]

Hi,

I consulted a bonafide deadtree dictionary - Cassell's Dictionary of Slang by Jonathon Green.

all wool adj. [mid-19C](US) - excellent, first class
susanside n. [late 19C] - suicide [joc. blend of SE Susan + suicide]

but no bakus I'm afraid.

tuskin

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by GrannyGrump

bakus :
‘There’s no one at home,’ said Mrs. Beale; ‘wait a bit till I go along to the bakus with the meat, and I’ll fetch it along.’

backhouse? some sort of pantry or larder?

What is the 'it' Mrs. Beale's going to 'fetch along'

Originally Posted by Doitsu

After looking at a couple of hits in Google Books, I believe that susanside is a slang term for suicide.

As for "to the bakus," maybe this is slang for "to the baker's."

Not familiar with 'susanside' for suicide. In the 1950-60's I can recall 'sausage fried' being common in London, as in "Wot 'appened to Fred". "Fred? Oh, he sausaged hisself."

Originally Posted by GrannyGrump

Wow, I didn't get any susansides hits except for some Facebook links, etc. for someone named Susan Sides. Your suggestion sounds right. Thank you.

Bakus, I am not sure... taking meat to the baker sounds strange.

Taking meat to bakers not so strange, I've seen it in Italy and Corsica - to slow roast all day in dying embers. No doubt it happened in London too. I have a vague memory of Stein or Toklas writing about it happening in France. Or maybe Némirovsky.

So 'bakus' for bakehouse, but that sounds American to me. Unless the 'k' is signifying an Essex glottal stop.

BR

[Toxaris]

Was it common to bring meat to a baker to create some kind of meatpie perhaps? In case you didn't have an oven yourself?

[GrannyGrump]

Thanks for input, all of you.

@BetterRed, the "it" was a book the boy wanted to borrow, and Mrs. Beale offered to "fetch it along" to him when she finished her errand.

@Tuskin, thanks for the "all-wool" input. I am inclined to think that in the context of the paragraph, the person in question was a believer in products of unadulterated ingredients (no cotton masquerading as wool, etc), made in the best quality. I ran across this term in two or three of Nesbit's books, so it was apparently fairly common in that area of England at the time.

[elibrarian]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Was it common to bring meat to a baker to create some kind of meatpie perhaps? In case you didn't have an oven yourself?

We have an old christmas carol - from 1848 - in Denmark, that describes the activities on the day of Christmas Eve in a middle class Copenhagen Home. One of the lines are "gåsestegen er til bag'ren sendt" ~ "the goose has been sent to the baker". It seems to have been common practice (up to WWII) to send bigger roasts to the baker, partly because many households, especially in the cities, didn't have the big ovens needed (or no oven at all), partly to avoid the cooking-smells and fumes.

There’s a reference to a similar practice in England in Dickens’ Christmas Carol in Stave 3, where Scrooge watches ” innumerable people, carrying their dinners to the bakers’ shops”. This was not only at Christmas, it seems the less well-of, having neither ovens nor money to buy big roasts, would drop their sunday dinner at the baker’s on their way to church to be heated by the baker’s cooling ovens (no bread being baked on sundays) and fetch a nice hot meal on the way home.

Regards,

Kim

[GrannyGrump]

Well, it sounds to me like a consensus (thank you doitsu, BetterRed, Toxaris, elibrarian) that "bakus" is either "bakehouse" or "baker's".

Thanks much guys, a small brainstorming session with great results!

[grumbles]

As elibrarian states:
An oven was uncommon in most 19th century working class homes. Most working class households would not do any baking and any roast, when it was available, would be sent to the baker, who probably had the only oven in the neighbourhood. I think the stove/oven combination was (is?) more common in North America than in Europe.