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In the first page of Ulysses there is this word I just cannot find the definition of: "gunrest".From the context, it would seem some sort of scaffold or staircase.Anybody knows?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]In the first page of Ulysses there is this word I just cannot find the definition of: "gunrest". From the context, it would seem some sort of scaffold or staircase. Anybody knows?[/nq]
When you see a word that could be a compound, look up the possible constituent elements. In this case, we have
(SOED5)
rest, noun1.
/rEst/
(Old English ræst, rest corresp. to Old Frisian rasta, Old Saxon rasta place of rest, Old High German rasta rest, league (German Rast), Old Norse r?st, Gothic rasta mile.)
...

7. A thing on which something else rests, a support or prop for holding orsteadying something, as
(a) a support for a firearm, employed in steadying the barrel to ensure accuracy of aim, esp. that used for a heavy musket; (b) a support for a cue in billiards, snooker, etc.; (c)a support or hook for a telephone receiver when not in use, incorporating a switch that is automatically closed when the receiver is lifted;
(d) a projecting part of a removable denture that gives it support by lying against a tooth. E16.
bedrest, book rest, foot-rest, head-rest, knife-rest, leg-rest, etc.

(OED2)
rest, n.1

11. a. A support for a fire-arm, employed in steadying the barrel to ensureaccuracy of aim, esp. that used for the old heavy musket, which was forked at the upper end, and provided with a spike to fix it in the ground.
1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 13b, That would permit their Mosquettiersto giue anie volees from their restes.

1598 Barret Theor. Warres ii. i. 27 The musket hath his rest, theheauinesse thereof is many times eased.

1622 F. Markham Bk. War i. ix. 35 He shall have for his right hand ahandsome Rest of Ash or other light wood, with an yron pike in the nether end, and an halfe hoope of yron aboue to lay the musquet in when hee rests it.
a1662 Heylin Laud (1668) 492 Shouldering a Musket..in one hand, and a Rest in the other.

1833 Holland Manuf. in Metal II. 92 The rest is still generally used inshooting with the duck gun.

1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 753/1 Rest, a support for a gun in testfiring.

12. a. A thing upon which something else rests, in various specific uses(see quots.).
The rest of a lance belongs to rest n.3

1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. (1623) Mj, Your Hiue being fitted and dressed,you must haue also in a readinesse a Mantle, a Rest, and a Brush?A Rest is either single or double.

1611 Bible 1 Kings vi. 6 Without in the wall of the house hee madenarrowed rests round about.

1617 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 205 Seasoned board of oakelayd uppon sufficient rests of oake tymber for the grounde floare.
1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 275 Having spread a Mantle on theGround,..set a Pair of Rests, or two Supporters for the Hive.
1723 Chambers tr. Le Clerc's Treat. Archit. I. 135 Pedestals shou'd becontinued so as to form Rests or Leaning-Places for the Windows. Ibid. 136 The Windows have no Rests, but reach down to the Pavement.
1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Rests, the arrangement at the top and bottomof a pit for supporting the shaft-cage while changing the tubs or cars.

1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 753/2 Rest, a support or a guide forstuff fed to a saw.

Martin Ambuhl

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]In the first page of Ulysses there is this word I just cannot find the definition of: "gunrest". From the context, it would seem some sort of scaffold or staircase. Anybody knows?[/nq]
If you're worried about understanding what's going on on page one, I can promise you it doesn't get any easier.
They're in a Martello Tower - a Napoleonic period coastal defence fortification (conceivably the one in Dublin later owned by Bono and let out to the guy with the bad teeth in the Pogues, whose name currently escapes me). The line is about Buck Mulligan -
"Suddenly he came forward and mounted the round gunrest..." then he turns round and looks out at the scenery - on the next page Mulligan "skips off the gunrest" and then Dedalus sits down on the thing.

Somewhere you rest a gun and can sit on then. Which at that period could well be a heavy cannon rather than a rifle. And it's round. And you can see out of, or over it. They're on the roof of the tower, but it's not the parapet, as Joyce uses that word in the same sentence, and jumping up on it would put you over a sheer drop of about 40'.
Dunno then. But Joyce does make a lot of words up (I especially liked "the scrotumtightening sea"...)
DCC (stuck for last month on p387)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]In the first page of Ulysses there is this word ... would seem some sort of scaffold or staircase. Anybody knows?[/nq]
[nq:1]If you're worried about understanding what's going on on page one, I can promise you it doesn't get any easier. ... by Bono and let out to the guy with the bad teeth in the Pogues, whose name currently escapes me).[/nq]
Shane MacGowan. Though describing his teeth as 'bad' is a bit like saying Crystal Gayle's hair is 'long'.
I wonder how many people have had Shane in their 'Dead Pool' for the last 10 years?
Anyroadup. This is the place:
http://www.gardensireland.com/james-joyce.html
[nq:1]"Suddenly he came forward and mounted the round gunrest..." then he turns round and looks out at the scenery - on the next page Mulligan "skips off the gunrest" and then Dedalus sits down on the thing.[/nq]
Stephen sits on the edge of the thing - > - which might be significant.
[nq:1]Somewhere you rest a gun and can sit on then. Which at that period could well be a heavy cannon ... word in the same sentence, and jumping up on it would put you over a sheer drop of about 40'.[/nq]
No reason why you can't jump onto* the parapet. As long as you don't overbalance. And there *is a parapet on the roof, which is where the main armament was mounted.
Here's a shot of the business end of a Martello Tower:

http://www.martello-towers.co.uk/armament.htm
And in diagram form:
http://www.martello-towers.co.uk/plan.htm
I'm guessing the gun-rest is the circular path at a height half-way between the floor of the gun tower and the parapet. The gun is mounted on a carriage which pivots around the central swivel point and rolls along the gunrest. The gunrest is indistinguishable from a stone banquette once the gun & carriage are removed.
Though I could hear an argument that the central stone bit where the swivel is mounted could be the gunrest, this being authentically round whereas the banquette is strictly circular. Though since Buck goes to the parapet and Stephen follows him 'half way', the banquette comes out ahead on points.
John Dean
Oxford

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