A footman was a domestic servant. During the 18th century, pompous and grand-looking footmen strutting through the streets of London caused some degree of resentment among the ordinary population who termed them 'fart catchers', and dismissed them as little more than fashion accessories showing off the wealth of their employers. However, Mrs Beeton helpfully describes the duties of the footman to those starting a household in 1860 as:
Where a single footman, or odd man, is the only male servant, then, whatever his ostensible position, he is required to make himself generally useful. He has to clean the knives and shoes, the furniture, the plate [silver plated metal objects]; answer the visitors who call, the drawing-room and parlour bells; and do all the errands. His life is no sinecure; and a methodical arrangement of his time will be necessary, in order to perform his many duties with any satisfaction to himself or his master.
The footman is expected to rise early, in order to get through all his dirty work before the family are stirring. Boots and shoes, and knives and forks, should be cleaned, lamps in use trimmed, his master's clothes brushed, the furniture rubbed over; so that he may put aside his working dress, tidy himself, and appear in a clean jacket, to lay the cloth and prepare breakfast for the family... He lays the cloth on the table; over it the breakfast-cloth, and sets the breakfast things in order, and then proceeds to wait upon his master, if he has any of the duties of a valet to perform.
Where a valet is not kept, a portion of his duties falls to the footman's share - brushing the clothes among others. If the footman is required to perform any part of a valet's duties, he will have to see that the housemaid lights a fire in the dressing-room in due time; that the room is dusted and cleaned; that the washhand-ewer is filled with soft water; and that the bath whether hot or cold, is ready when required; that towels are at hand; that hairbrushes and combs are properly cleansed and in their places; that hot water is ready at the hour ordered; the dressing-gown and slippers in their place, the clean linen aired, and the clothes to be worn for the day in their proper places. After the master has dressed, it will be the footman's duty to restore everything to its place properly cleansed and dry, and the whole restored to order.
At breakfast, when there is no butler, the footman carries up the tea-urn, and, assisted by the housemaid, he waits during breakfast. Breakfast over, he removes the tray and other things off the table, folds up the breakfast-cloth, and sets the room in order, by sweeping up all crumbs, shaking the cloth, and laying it on the table again, making up the fire, and sweeping up the hearth.
At luncheon-time nearly the same routine is observed, except where the footman is either out with the carriage or away on other business, when, in the absence of any butler, the housemaid must assist.
For dinner, the footman lays the cloth, taking care that the table is not too near the fire, if there is one, and that passage-room is left. A table-cloth should be laid without a wrinkle; and this requires two persons; over this the slips are laid, which are usually removed preparatory to placing dessert on the table. He prepares knives, forks, and glasses, with five or six plates for each person. This done, he places chairs enough for the party, distributing them equally on each side of the table, and opposite to each a napkin neatly folded within it a piece of bread or small roll, and a knife on the right side of each plate, a fork on the left, and a carving-knife and fork at the top and bottom of the table, outside the others, with the rests opposite to them, and a gravy-spoon beside the knife. The fish-slice should be at the top, where the lady of the house with the assistance of the gentleman next to her, divides the fish, and the soup-ladle at the bottom: it is sometimes usual to add a desert-knife and fork; at the same time , on the right side also of each plate, put a wine-glass for as many kinds of wine as it is intended to hand round, and a finger-glass or glass-cooler about four inches [nine centimetres] from the edge. The latter are frequently put on the table with the dessert.
About half an hour before dinner, he rings the dinner-bell, where that is the practice, and occupies himself with carrying up everything he is likely to require. At the expiration of the time, having communicated with the cook, he rings the real dinner-bell, and proceeds to take it up with such assistance as he can obtain. Having ascertained that all is in order, that his own dress is clean and presentable, and his white cotton gloves are without a stain, he announces in the drawing-room that dinner is served, and stands respectfully by the door until the company are seated: he places himself on the left, behind his master, who is to distribute the soup; where soup and fish are served together, his place will be at his mistress's left hand; but he must be on the alert to see that whoever is assisting him, whether male or female, are at their posts. If any of the guests has brought his own servant with him, his place is behind his master's chair, rendering such assistance to others as he can, while attending to his master's wants throughout the dinner, so that every guest has what he requires. This necessitates both activity and intelligence, and should be done without bustle, without asking any questions, except where it is the custom of the house to hand round dishes or wine, when it will be necessary to mention, in a quiet and unobtrusive manner, the dish or wine you present.
When required to go out with the carriage, it is the footman's duty to see that it has come to the door perfectly clean, and that the glasses and sashes, and linings are free from dust. In receiving messages at the carriage door, he should turn his ear to the speaker, so as to comprehend what is said, in order that he may give his directions to the coachman clearly. When the house he is to call at is reached, he should knock, and return to the carriage for orders. In closing the door upon the family, he should see that the handle is securely turned, and that no part of the ladies' dress is shut in.
It is the footman's duty to carry messages or letters for his master or mistress to their friends, to the post, or to the tradespeople; and nothing is more important than dispatch and exactness in doing so, although writing even the simplest message is now the ordinary and very proper practice.
In addition, footmen were also required to reserve seats in the family's box at the theatre, awaiting the arrival of the family. To lay out and wait at table for evening receptions and games of cards. To open and close doors behind visitors and to announce visitors upon directing them into the drawing room where the master or mistress awaited. Research Footman
Prom is an originally American term for a dance or ball held at a school or college. The term originated in the middle of the 19th century and slowly took hold in the United Kingdom during the late part of the 20th century and the start of the 21st century, until proms were common-place as leaving celebrations for the eldest students, first at secondary schools (with the children leaving being of an age of about sixteen) and later slowly extending to the leaving celebrations of younger children leaving primary school at an age of about eleven. Typically a prom is a formal-dress affair, the girls wearing expensive, long, evening ball gowns usually of a satin finish and the boys wearing a suit incorporating a dinnerjacket (or tuxedo as the Americans call it, the term tuxedo becoming more common in the United Kingdom at the start of the 21st century). Research Prom
Torture, in a legal sense, means the application of bodily pain so as to force evidence from witnesses, or confessions from persons accused of crimes. It was applied to slaves in Athens and the Athenian and Rhodian laws allowed it to be applied even to citizens and freemen. In popular terms, torture is also the infliction of pain as a punishment. Torture is simultaneously universally condemned and practised. In Norway following the Second World War during the late 1940s and 1950s the children of unmarried Norwegian mothers and German soldiers were forcibly detained in mental institutions, one survivor recounting how she was forced to sleep in a straight jacket every night for three years. Following the American war against Afghanistan in 2001, the subsequent prisoners of war were held shackled, in small cages and in 2005 the USA was scandalised by the revelation that the American government operated secret prison camps around the world where 'suspects' - many of them kidnapped - were taken and tortured, contrary to American and international law. Research Torture
The Macaroni were a group of 18th century dandies who from 1770 to 1775 led the fashion, and infuriated the church. They imitated extravagant Continental fashions - having derived their fashion in Italy - and were distinguished by wearing an immense knot of artificial hair, a very small cocked hat, jacket, waist-coat, and small clothes all worn very tight against the body and carrying a long walking-stick ornamented with tassels. The Macaronis were infamous for their gambling, drinking and duelling and around 1773 were described as the curse of Vauxhall Gardens. Research Macaroni
Red-Jacket was an American Indian chief. He was born in 1751 and died in 1830. He was chief of the Wolf tribe of the Senecas, and served with the Six Nations against the Americans during the American War of Independence. In the War of 1812 he assisted the United States. He made an eloquent speech against the treaty of Port Stanwix in 1784. Research Red-Jacket
The Beretta 38/42 was an Italian sub-machine-gun produced from 1943 to 1975 and used by the Italian, German and Romanian armies during the Second World War. It was chambered for the 9 mm Parabellum cartridge which it took from a 20 or 40 round magazine and fired at a cyclic rate of 550 rounds per minute or single-shot selectable by the use of two triggers, with a muzzle velocity of 381 meters-per-second. The Beretta 38/42 developed from the Beretta 1938A, having the barrel shortened and the barreljacket removed. Research Beretta 38/42
A brigandine was a medieval coat of mail composed of light thin jointed scales or a coat of thin pliant plate armour covered with leather or hemp. Brigandines were originally the armour worn by Brigands. The term was later applied to the jacket quilted with iron worn by archers during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. Research Brigandine
A bullet is the projectile expelled from a gun. It is not synonymous with cartridge. Bullets can be of many materials, shapes, weights and constructions such as solid lead, lead with a jacket of harder metal, round- nosed, flat-nosed, hollow-pointed, etc. Research Bullet
The DM 51 is a German dual-purpose hand grenade comprising a high-explosive offensive hand grenade body and a fragmentation jacket which can be placed around it for defensive use. The DM 51 is a plastic hexagonal prism-shaped hand grenade containing compressed nitropenta explosive, the fragmentation jacket is barrel-shaped and contains 6500 steel balls. The explosive grenade can be joined together to form a cluster, or joined end to end to form a Bangalore torpedo for engineering work such as blowing holes in barbed wire fences or paths through mine fields. Research DM 51
Abbreviations
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