New York. Rockmetteller ('Rocky') Todd likes to laze away in the depths of Long Island, earning his keep by writing poetry. When his Aunt Isabel decides to see the good life of New York by proxy, getting Rocky to write to her weekly about his exploits, Rocky is horrified; he hates N. Y. and wants to stay in the country but doesn't want to risk being cut out of his aunt's will. He calls on Bertie Wooster for help. Jeeves suggests that someone supplies Rocky with the information and he writes the letters from the peace and quiet of his own home. All goes well until ...
| Bertie Wooster | |
| Jeeves | his valet |
| Rocky Todd | a lazy poet |
| Isabel Rockmetteller | his aunt |
First published 22 April 1916, Saturday Evening Post (US).
Also published August 1916 in the Strand magazine.
Glad eye
- welcoming look (US).
Snootered
- harassed (this meaning is possibly unique to PGW).
'Rather like the chappie whose heart was "in the Highlands a-chasing of the deer", Jeeves?'
- Robert Burns, My Heart's In The Highlands.
Jimmy Mundy
- probably based on Billy Sunday (1862-1935), a famous preacher and prohibitionist from Detroit.
Madison Square Garden
- arena and sports venue in the centre of New York.
Gehenna
- a place of torment or misery; hell.
St. Vitus's dance
- a disorder involving convulsive involuntary movements.
Delirium tremens
- the state of frenzied excitement and hallucinations associated with very heavy alcohol consumption.
Lot and the Cities of the Plain
- Sodom and Gomorrah, see Genesis: Chapter 19.
Reigelheimer's, Frolics on the Roof and Midnight Revels
- three fakes. Reigelheimer's features in Uneasy Money from the previous year with indications that it was based on the restaurant of the Brevoort Hotel. Uneasy also has 'Frolics-in-the-Air' as an invented place. I cannot find any trace of the Revels.
Georgie Cohan
- George M. Cohan (1878-1942), star of vaudeville and musicals. (A bronze statue of him now stands in Times Square.)
Willie Collier
- (1864-1944) writer, director and performer.
Fred Stone
- (1873-1959) musical comedy actor.
Doug Fairbanks
- (1883-1939) actor, appeared on stage in one of PG's plays A Thief for a Night in 1913.
Ed Wynn
- [Carry on, Jeeves version only] (1886-1966) performer, composer, lyrist and producer of musical comedy.
Diamond Jim Brady
- [My Man Jeeves version only] James Buchanan Brady (1856-1917) American businessman, financier and philanthropist. Also a noted gourmand.
Laurette Taylor
- (1884-1946) actress.
'Hamlet must have felt much as I did when his father's ghost bobbed up in the fairway.'
- a reference to Shakespeare's play Hamlet although, as I recall, neither Hamlet or the ghost played golf, preferring a castle for their encounter.
'It was like what somebody-or-other said about the touch of a vanished hand.'
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Break, break, break.
'Time, the great healer ...'
- a much used phrase which might come from the Hebrew proverb 'Time is a great healer'.
Peale's
- also mentioned in Uneasy Money, possibly named after Peale's Museum.
David Belasco
- (1853-1931) author, producer, director and theatre owner.
Jim Corbett
- 'Gentleman Jim' (1866-1933), one-time world champion heavyweight boxer.
Hippodrome
- the Hippodrome Theatre at 43/44th and 6th Avenue from 1905 to 1939.
Bottomless Pit
- a place of punishment from Revelations.
'... ancient revels of Nineveh and Babylon.'
- two cities in the Old Testament noted for licentious behaviour.
'I believe you must eat a lot of fish, or something.'
- there's an old adage that eating fish is good for the brain. Recent research suggests it might be true (something to do with Omega-3 fatty acids).
The My Man Jeeves version is substantially the same as the Carry On, Jeeves version which has an added reference to other stories in the book.