gaffer a foreman of a group of workers.
Giotto's 'Two Apostles' Hardy probably had in mind the fresco in the National Gallery in London that is now attributed to Spinello Aretino (active 1371–1410).
Gnomic texts gnomic means wise and pithy; full of aphorisms; here, a reference to texts that express general truths in a wise manner.
Good-hussif (dialect) good housewife.
grapes of Ephraim from Judges 8:1–3.
green malt on the floor the expression refers to pregnancy before marriage.
guindée stiff, stilted, formal (French).
habiliments clothing; dress; attire.
haggler/higgler a dealer who travels from place to place selling wares or goods, such as fruit.
Hagrode (dialect) ridden by witches, troubled by nightmares.
handkercher (dialect) handkerchief.
Heliolatries religions in which the sun is worshipped.
her Antinous . . . a favorite of the Roman Emperor Hadrian; like Apollo, the Greek god of sun and of music, Antinous was a figure of male beauty.
her mother's ballad of the mystic robe from "The Boy and the Mantle," in which a robe betrays Queen Guenever, the wife of King Arthur.
Hodge a familiar term for an agricultural laborer in England; shortened form of Roger.
hogshead a large barrel or cask holding from 63 to 140 gallons (238 to 530 liters)
Holmberry a holly bush.
Hontish (dialect) haughty.
How are the mighty fallen from 2 Samuel 1:19.
Hymenaeus and Alexander in this sentence Alec is echoing Paul in 1 Timothy 1:18–20, where he mentions these figures as examples of those who have lost faith.
I worshipped on the mountains . . . from 2 Kings 17–23.
impressibility the state of being impressed or impressionable.
Integer Vitae phrase from Roman poet Horace is in an ode translated in the lines quoted as "upright life."
integument a natural outer covering of the body or of a plant, including skin, shell, hide, husk, or rind.
interlocutor a person taking part in a conversation or dialogue.
Ixionian wheel in Greek mythology, Ixion's eternal punishment was to be bound to a revolving wheel of fire.
