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HiA certain woman speaks about a canon whom she knows very well. She says:Hal took up good works as a protest against beingsecond son. (Does it mean he started to do good things because he wanted to protest that he was a second son? Or maybe "second" here means "worse"?)He had a brother – two, three years older –who was an absolute devil; madly, extravagant, selfish tothe bone, terribly good-looking and nomorals whatsoever.So Hal bounced off in the opposite direction.Holy Orders; follow in Father’s footsteps but take it to the limit. (I understand he took Holy Orders and now follows in his father's footsteps, but what is meant by "he takes it to the limit"?)Vote Conservative but all go shares with the pocket money. (OK, he votes for Conservative party, but I cannot figure out what is meant by "all goes shares with the pocket money? Does it mean he gets money for voting on Conservative party?) Freddie went and got himself killed at Mons, so Hal hadmore to share out than he reckoned on, and had awonderful time.’ (Probably Freddie was Hal's brother so I take it to mean that Freddie went to war, was killed and Hal had more money for himself and had a good fun thanks to this money. But where was this money from?)

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

What is the source that you are reading? I really need more context to decipher some of the sentences.

1) Hal took up good works as a protest against being second son.

In England historical times, the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primogeniture prevailed. That is the reason that the younger brothers felt horribly insecure and entered the priesthood.

2) follow in Father’s footsteps but take it to the limit.

He was rebelling against his brother's profligacy by being extremely zealous in his religious practice. With an initial capital letter, Father probably refers to his religious leader, not his biological father.

3) Vote Conservative but all go shares with the pocket money.

Without context, this is difficult to interpret.The sentence does not make much sense.

4) Freddie went and got himself killed at Mons, so Hal had more to share out than he reckoned on, and had a wonderful time.’

Mons was the site of a major battle of WWI. When the eldest son dies, the law of primogeniture dictates that the estate is inherited by the next oldest son.

Newguest · Answer

AlpheccaStars3) Vote Conservative but all go shares with the pocket money. Without context, this is difficult to interpret.The sentence does not make much sense.

I only know that the canon is very reach now. There was nothing in the text about voting and sharing some pocket money. He also runs his own private school. He said some time earlier in the text that:

My forebears were quite disgustingly rich. My grandfather, a far-sighted man who seemed to have considered the possible devaluation of money, endowed the school lavishly. It has never yet cost me a penny of my private money; and if it did . . .Well, though hit by taxes, like everyone else, I am still quite disgustingly rich.’

4) Freddie went and got himself killed at Mons, so Hal had more to share out than he reckoned on, and had a wonderful time.’Mons was the site of a major battle of WWI. When the eldest son dies, the law of primogeniture dictates that the estate is inherited by the next oldest son.

So it just means he got more money than he had expected and had a good fun thanks to this money?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

I only know that the canon is very reach now. Do you mean rich?

So it just means he got more money than he had expected and had a good fun thanks to this money?

The canon (Hal) was the younger son. The father and grandfather were very wealthy. When the father died, Freddie (the eldest son) inherited the entire estate. He began living it up with his wealth.

Of course, the endowment would have been in trust to the school, so neither of the sons would be able to use the school's money. Hal benefited, though, by being employed at the school. I cannot tell from what you have given, that this was a religious school. But that makes sense if Hal was a canon.

When Freddie was killed in the war, Hal inherited the family estate. He probably did not approve of his brother, who lived lavishly. It is hard to tell if Hal became as spoiled and profligate as his brother after he came into the inheritance.

A description of the way he lived would be in the book.

What is the name of the book you are reading?

Newguest · Answer

Hi

Yes, I meant "rich".

The title is The Witches (The Devil's Own) by Peter Curtis.

So the sentence:

Hal had more to share out than he reckoned on, and had a wonderful time.

means: Hal had inherited more that he had expected to get and lived comfortably.

As for this sentence:

Vote Conservative but all go shares with the pocket money.

I suppose it could mean that he voted for the Conservative party and reaped some benefits from it (but it's just my guess).

Newguest · Answer

Maybe "go shares" and "pocket money" is some British slang?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

NewguestMaybe "go shares" and "pocket money" is some British slang?

Pocket money is American as well. It is the money people carry around with them for small purchases, no more than what they would spend in a day or so. e.g.

His wife really has control of him. She allots him only a meagre amount of pocket money each week for his small pleasures.

Share has a distinctly British definition. It means a unit of financial ownership in a company. The American term is stock. I found a few references to "go shares"

- a union or combined operation.

- to partake, to be equally concerned (1913 dictionary)

- to divide the cost of something between you (To go shares on)

This sentence does not make sense to me. Perhaps more context would help.

Newguest · Answer

AlpheccaStarsPerhaps more context would help.[/quoteI know the book from the beginning and can't think of anything that might explain this. Maybe there's something further in the book that wil help figure out what it means.

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