A Pelican at Blandings
(US title: No Nudes Is Good Nudes)
by
P. G. Wodehouse
Literary and Cultural References
The following notes attempt to explain cultural, historical and literary allusions in Wodehouse’s text, to identify his sources, and to cross-reference similar references in the rest of the canon. These annotations have been compiled by JB Shaw, and edited and extended by Neil Midkiff [NM] and other contributors as credited below.
A Pelican at Blandings was published in the UK by Herbert Jenkins Ltd on 25 September 1969. The American edition was published as No Nudes Is Good Nudes by Simon & Schuster on 11 February 1970.
Page numbers refer to the Herbert Jenkins edition of 1969. A table of cross-references to the pagination of other available editions opens in a new browser tab or window upon clicking the link.
Any mistakes below are my responsibility. Thanks to Neil Midkiff and the other contributors on whose work I have been able to draw.
As someone or other once said, “If I have seen a little further, it is by standing on the toes of giants.”
—JB Shaw, 2025
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Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 |
Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 |
Chapter One (pp. 5–17)
that schoolgirl complexion (p. 5)
See Sam the Sudden.
seigneur (p. 5)
A feudal lord, lord of the manor.
Mr. Frederick (p. 6)
Lord Emsworth’s younger son, the Hon. Frederick Threepwood, “Freddie” to his pals.
like breath off a razor blade (p. 6)
See Uncle Dynamite.
Mr. Galahad (p. 6)
Lord Emsworth’s younger brother, the Hon. Galahad Threepwood, “Gally” to his pals.
brass paper-fastener (p. 7)
roly-poly pudding (p. 7)
See Very Good, Jeeves.
ought to have set their faces against it at the outset (p. 8)
“I’ve always said it was a mistake to have sisters. We should have set our faces against it from the outset.”
Galahad at Blandings, ch. 3.4 (1965)
crumpled rose leaf (p. 8)
See Sam the Sudden.
pince-nez (p. 10)
Spectacles without side-pieces, which grip the nose to stay in place.
Rex Stout…Agatha Christie (p. 10)
Rex Stout (1886–1975) and Agatha Christie (1890–1976) were prolific authors of mystery fiction, admired by Wodehouse.
tumbril (p. 10)
A cart, especially for dung. The name was given to the cart that conveyed victims to the guillotine during the French Revolution.
Napoleon, Attila the Hun (p. 10)
Noted tough military types from history.
Wolff-Lehman (p. 12)
Those wishing to know more are referred to an article “The Pig Versus the Feeding Standards” by John M. Evvard in the ‘Berkshire World and Cornbelt Stockman’, 1st Dec 1917 issue.
Wolff and Lehman were distinct Germans.
See also Blandings Castle and Elsewhere.
Shropshire, Herefordshire and South Wales Pig Breeders Association (p. 13)
I could not find any record of this organisation.
Lord Orrery and Cork (p. 15)
The Irish earldoms of Orrery and Cork have been combined since 1753.
Orrery is a territory within County Cork.
The current Earl is John Richard Boyle (b. 1945). He is also Viscount Dungarvan, but as his son gets to use that title Emsworth’s quandary remains.
Chapter Two (pp. 18–28)
Berkeley Mansions, London W.1. (p. 18)
A certain B. Wooster Esq also resided here.
See Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit.
Haig & Haig (p. 18)
A brand of Scotch whisky, the company being founded in 1888 by the Haig family, primarily to trade in the American market. Became a limited company in 1898, went into receivership in 1907, though the brand lived on.
Newmarket (p. 19)
Horse-racing venue in Suffolk.
burst at the seams with black balls (p. 22)
The method of voting on candidates to join a club by depositing a black or white ball in a receptacle was usually arranged to be a secret ballot, but perhaps ‘Stiffy’ Halliday was vocal on the subject of Dunstable.
Guardee (p. 23)
A Guardsman i.e. serviceman in one of the Household Troops of the royal household.
The word has implications of a handsome appearance.
Barbizon group (p. 25)
The Barbizon School of painters, ca 1830–1870, were a group tending towards Realism in contrast to the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas are considered to number among them.
Robichaux appears to be fictional.
Lady of Shalott (p. 27)
See Summer Moonshine.
donah (p. 27)
A sweetheart (from Spanish “Donna”).
Chapter Three (pp. 29–40)
snakes … Garden of Eden (p. 29)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
men accustomed to mingling with basset hounds...horses (p. 29)
I.e. the hunting set.
blot on the escutcheon (p. 34)
An escutcheon is a shield on which a coat of arms is represented. Therefore, a discredit to the family.
Demon King (p. 35)
The principal bad guy in pantomime, who traditionally would come on from stage left, but sometimes through a trap-door instead.
vultures were gnawing at his ample bosom (p. 37)
See Lord Emsworth and Others.
Possibly related to Titus Andronicus (by W. Shakespeare)
I am Revenge, sent from th’infernal kingdom
To ease the gnawing vulture of thy mind
By working wreakful vengeance on thy foes.
Titus Andronicus Act V Scene 2 Lines 32–35
silver ring bookies (p. 39)
See Uncle Fred in the Springtime.
the finer instincts which raise Man above the level of the beasts that perish (p. 39)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
marries rather too often … King Solomon (p. 40)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
even unto half his kingdom (p. 40)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
chiselling (p. 40)
chisel, vb. (slang) to cheat, swindle.
We shall meet at Philippi (p. 40)
See A Damsel in Distress.
Chapter Four (pp. 41–59)
Madame Tussaud’s (p. 42)
The museum of wax sculptures founded in London in 1835 by Marie Tussaud included a Chamber of Horrors as early as 1843.
Otto of Roses (p. 44)
A slight misquote from a real song by Ivan Caryll and George Grossmith Jnr, from the musical play The Girls of Gottenburg which played 303 performances at the Gaiety Theatre London from May 1907.
Score to be seen at Musescore.
The title is a pun on otto/ottar/attar of roses, a perfumers’ essential oil made chiefly from the damask rose.
neuralgia (p. 45)
Paroxysmal intermittent pain along the course of a nerve.
apoplexy (p. 45)
A stroke.
G.H.Q. (p. 47)
General Headquarters. A military term.
Bodega (p. 50)
See Young Men in Spats.
snatched up to heaven in a fiery chariot (p. 50)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
all good men…aid of the party (p. 52)
Cleopatra and Boadicea (p. 52)
Cleopatra VII was last Queen of Egypt and had to put up with a lot from the Romans from 51 to 30 BC.
Later (AD 60 or 61) Boadicea/Boudica Queen of the Iceni tried to teach them a lesson in Britain.
Jersey marshes (p. 53)
About 19% of New Jersey is considered wetland, including an area which rejoices in the name of The Dismal Swamp. At the time of the book’s publication the public generally still regarded wetlands as somewhere in need of ‘improvement’. Liberty Island, on which the Statue of Liberty stands, is part of New York State but is surrounded by the waters of Jersey City, New Jersey only 610m away.
Hurst Park (p. 55)
See Carry On, Jeeves.
Assyrian beard (p. 55)
Beards were a status symbol in ancient Assyria (21st to 7th centuries BC), at its height an empire reaching from modern-day Iran to Egypt.
They used oil and tongs to create elaborate ringlets and curls.
obiter dicta (p. 56)
Things said by the way, cursory remarks.
bum’s rush (p. 58)
Bum as in tramp: forcible ejection.
Chapter Five (pp. 60–69)
Palisades Park…Coney Island (p. 61)
Palisades Park, New Jersey, was an amusement park that operated from 1898 to 1971.
Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, became a seaside resort in the mid-19th century, had amusement parks by the end of that century and declined in popularity after WW2.
Great Neck and Westhampton Beach (p. 64)
Great Neck is a region of the North Shore of Long Island, New York. It’s popularity with the rich and famous from 1890 onwards earned the North Shore the nickname of the Gold Coast, with mansions built by Vanderbilts and Astors among others.
Westhampton Village is on the South Shore of Long Island and was an important summer resort.
[The Wodehouses lived in Great Neck in the late 1910s and early 1920s, and from 1952 onward had a home in Remsenburg, a mile or two west of Westhampton Beach, so he would have been familiar with the parties given in the area. —NM]
Plaza fountain (p. 64)
I assume this is the fountain opposite the entrance to the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, in Grand Army Plaza at the SE corner of Central Park. More properly the Pulitzer Fountain.
Wreck of the Hesperus (p. 65)
An epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882):
The breakers were right beneath her bows,
She drifted a dreary wreck,
And a whooping billow swept the crew
Like icicles from her deck.
trading stamps (p. 66)
A stamp given by the retailer to a purchaser of goods which, when a specified number have been collected, can be exchanged for articles provided by the trading stamp firm. Past examples include Green Shield Stamps in the UK (which became Argos) and S&H Green Stamps in the USA. Co-operative Society stores in the UK also gave a dividend as stamps at one time.
conte (p. 67)
A short story (Fr).
“Out damned spot” (p. 68)
As said by Lady Macbeth in Macbeth by W. Shakespeare (Act V Scene 1), in reference to the murdered Duncan’s blood on her hand. Certainly a cryptic remark in the circumstances.
[See Shakespeare Quotations and Allusions in Wodehouse.]
Chapter Six (pp. 70–83)
Halsey Court (p. 70)
See Ice in the Bedroom.
Jerry Shoesmith (p. 71)
The protagonist of Frozen Assets/Biffen’s Millions (1964).
Jeff Miller (p. 71)
The protagonist of Money in the Bank (1942). His fiancée Myrtle Shoesmith is Jerry Shoesmith’s cousin.
pourparlers (p. 72)
An informal preliminary conference (Fr).
passed beyond the veil (p. 73)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
stuffed bosom (p. 74)
More Macbeth. See Shakespeare Quotations and Allusions in Wodehouse.
Mortimer Bayliss (p. 75)
Presumably the same Mortimer Bayliss who curates J. J. Bunyan’s art collection in Something Fishy/The Butler Did It (1957).
the Madeleine (p. 75)
La Madeleine is the Catholic Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine on Place de la Madeleine, 8th arrondissement.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (p. 80)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
Her best friends won’t tell her (p. 82)
A common phrase in adverts for mouthwash or deodorant in the 20th century.
The Shadow (p. 82)
See The Mating Season.
pip emma (p. 83)
P.M. — military radio alphabet.
Chapter Seven (pp. 84–108)
years which the locust had eaten (p. 84)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
bearded himself like the pard (p. 87)
See Shakespeare Quotations and Allusions.
‘Pard’ here is any large cat other than a lion.
ravelled sleeve of care (p. 88)
See Shakespeare Quotations and Allusions.
Matterhorns (p. 88)
The Matterhorn is an Alpine mountain peaking at 4478m, straddling the Swiss-Italian border.
Stock Exchange walk (p. 88)
The first London to Brighton Stock Exchange Walk was organised in 1903 by William Bramson, a member of the London Stock Exchange. The distance from Westminster Bridge to Brighton was 53 miles. The Stock Exchange Athletics Club was formed in 1910 and organised the second (1912) and subsequent races.
sotto voce (p. 89)
In an undertone, quiet.
Julius Caesar (p. 90)
See Shakespeare Quotations and Allusions.
turned into a pillar of salt (p. 90)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
Loyal Sons of Shropshire (p. 91)
Also mentioned in Full Moon (1947) and Sunset at Blandings (1977), usually apropos of dining.
Nijinsky (p. 92)
Vaslav Nijinsky (1889 or 1890 – 1950), Russian-born male ballet dancer, famous for spectacular leaps.
entrechat (p. 92)
“a leap during which the dancer beats his or her heels together”. Not derived from the French for ‘between cat’ but a good choice of word in the context.
poltroon (p. 93)
A coward.
Assyrian…fold (p. 93)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
pas seuls (p. 93)
Solo dances (Fr) — another ballet term.
amphora (p. 95)
Jar for holding liquids.
knotted and combined locks…porpentine (p. 101)
From Hamlet. See Shakespeare Quotations and Allusions.
Annie doesn’t live there anymore (p. 101)
It’s a tragedy that happened on a side street
When a fellow went to ring his sweetheart’s bell
He saw the shades were drawn, and he knew his girl was gone
When he listened to the story that the neighbour had to tell
…
She was oh so faithful, what a pitiful sight!
Waited for the letter that you promised to write!
A gentleman with a top hat called around the other night,
And Annie doesn’t live here any more!
ANNIE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
(Johnny Burke / Harold Spina / Joe Young) ca 1933.
good night sweet prince… (p. 104)
Hamlet again: see Shakespeare Quotations and Allusions.
a Medusa quality (p. 104)
The Medusa of Greek myth was a woman with snakes for hair, the mere sight of whom would turn the viewer to stone.
hauteur (p. 106)
Haughtiness.
allday sucker (p. 107)
An extra-large lollipop (US).
a snort like the sound of the Last Trump (p. 107)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
Chapter Eight (pp. 109–132)
boudoir (p. 109)
A woman’s private room (from Fr. bouder, to pout, to be sulky).
Gustave Flaubert (p. 109)
French novelist (1821–1880), author of Madame Bovary. I could not find any instance of “furieuse comme une poule mouillée” in his canon.
patrician (p. 109)
Aristocratic.
basilisk (p. 110)
A mythical serpent whose gaze (or breath) could kill.
Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson (p. 111)
Hollywood actors of the black-and-white and early colour movie era, noted for playing tough detectives (Bogart) or racketeers (Robinson).
John Preferred (p. 111)
’Preferred’ stocks (in the UK preference shares) are those which have priority when it comes to paying out dividends: John is being considered as an investment which has increased in value.
soaked half a crown (p. 112)
Overcharged the price of two shillings and sixpence (30 old pennies or one eighth of a pound), Whether this was indeed a large sum is difficult to say, given that we do not know when the story is set.
like General Grant, if it took all summer (p. 112)
I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.
General Ulysses S. Grant, of the Union Army. Letter of May 11th 1864 concerning their campaign against forces led by General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army in the American Civil War.
less than the dust beneath your chariot wheels (p. 118)
See Right Ho, Jeeves.
The Bird with The Difficult Eye (p. 118)
“The Bird of the Difficult Eye” is a short story by Lord Dunsany (Edward Plunkett) in the fantasy collection The Last Book of Wonder (US 1916, in UK as Tales of Wonder).
Illustration (and story) at the Internet Archive.
Auld Lang Syne touch (p. 118)
See Heavy Weather.
Skindles (p. 119)
Possibly the Skindles hotel on the Thames at Maidenhead, since 1743 variously a coaching inn, hotel, nightclub and restaurant. A hot spot in the 1920’s and 30’s. The current Roux at Skindles was opened by Michel and Alain Roux in 2018.
Brigade of Guards (p. 120)
See Heavy Weather.
Queen of Sheba…Helen of Troy (p. 120)
See Ice in the Bedroom and Biblia Wodehousiana for the Queen of Sheba
and
Ice in the Bedroom for Helen of Troy.
soul’s awakening (p. 120)
See Thank You, Jeeves.
Ben Bolt’s Alice (p. 120)
See Full Moon.
“There is some girls wot cry…” (p. 121)
Further research needed.
Oddenino’s (p. 122)
See Deconstructing the Globe By the Way Book.
O.C. (p. 122)
Commanding Officer (military).
bold Sir Bedivere (p. 123)
One of King Arthur’s knights, who on the third visit throws the sword Excalibur back into the lake whence it came (in some versions of the legend).
…He gazed so long
That both his eyes were dazzled as he stood,
This way and that dividing the swift mind,
In act to throw:…
Idylls of the King, Alfred Lord Tennyson.
dorsal muscles (p. 124)
Back muscles.
Gadarene swine (p. 125)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
rounding into the straight (p. 125)
A horse-racing metaphor.
The labourer is proverbially worthy of his hire (p. 129)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
Miss America (p. 132)
The annual Miss America competition originated in 1921 as a “bathing beauty revue”.
Chapter Nine (pp. 133–157)
donning the soup and fish (p. 133)
See Right Ho, Jeeves.
Blake and Allsop…Gooch and Gordon (p. 134)
Further research needed. [Probably fictitious. —NM]
the error of his ways (p. 134)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
A consummation devoutly to be wished (p. 139)
From Hamlet, see Shakespeare Quotations and Allusions.
Snow Queen in a ballet at the Alhambra (p. 140)
Presumably from the story by the Brothers Grimm, in which the eponymous queen has a heart of ice.
The Alhambra Theatre was on Leicester Square in London’s West End and went through many name changes and rebuildings. It was demolished in 1936 to make way for the Odeon Leicester Square.
deaf adder (p. 142)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
You’ve let the sun go down on your wrath (p. 142)
only son, the apple of his eye (p. 143)
Lucius Junius Brutus (p. 143)
One of the founders of the Roman Republic, died ca. 509 BC. From the traditional story by historian Livy, though LJB was not the sole judge in the case.
daring young man on the flying trapeze (p. 144)
He’d fly through the air with the greatest of ease,
That daring young man on the flying trapeze.
The Flying Trapeze
Popular song by Gaston Lyle, Alfred Lee and George Leybourne 1867, based on the phenomenal success of trapeze artist Jules Léotard.
laughing love god (p. 145)
See The Mating Season.
sponge bag trousers (p. 148)
dance of the seven veils (p. 150)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
The image of Dunstable doing a titillating dance is a disturbing one.
ball of worsted (p. 151)
Woollen yarn for ornamental needlework. Perhaps an alternative to ‘bundle of fluff’ as a term of endearment?
ward of court (p. 153)
Dunstable is Linda’s legal guardian (p. 204). Linda must be under 21 years of age, as an order of wardship expired at that age. Without such an order, Linda and Johnny would be able to marry in Scotland without Dunstable’s consent.
Wardship was restricted and its normal uses largely superseded by the Children Act of 1989, by which time the age of majority was 18.
stag at eve (p. 154)
See Heavy Weather.
slings and arrows of outrageous fortune (p. 155)
From Hamlet, see Shakespeare Quotations and Allusions.
Becher’s Brooks and Canal Turns in love’s Grand National (p. 155)
The Grand National steeplechase is a horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse, England.
Becher’s Brook and Canal Turn are two of the sixteen fences on the course.
pipped on the post (p. 156)
Or ’pipped at the post’ - defeated at the last moment, when victory seemed certain. The post being the winning line in a horse race.
the salt of the ruddy earth (p. 156)
Dance before him (p. 156)
Chapter Ten (pp. 158–173)
Whiffle (p. 159)
See Uncle Fred in the Springtime.
like some watcher of the skies… stout Cortez (p. 159)
Pigs at a Glance (p. 160)
Further research needed. [Apparently fictitious. —NM]
Battle of Joppa (p. 160)
Thomas Hardy (p. 161)
Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) English poet, author of the Wessex novels and others.
His later novels are gloomy indeed.
stocking full of sand (p. 161)
A common way of improvising a cosh, bludgeon or sap.
sand man (p. 162)
A fairy who supposedly puts children to sleep at bedtime by sprinkling sand in their eyes.
Oculists advise against trying this yourself.
Roedean (p. 162)
See Money in the Bank.
The thoughts of youth (p. 164)
See A Damsel In Distress.
weighing him in the balance (p. 166)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
too juvenile a reed on which to lean (p. 166)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
something out of the Book of Revelations (p. 166)
See Biblia Wodehousiana. Note that the Bible book is Revelation in the singular.
looking like a dying duck (p. 172)
See The Mating Season, and scroll down to In contrast for a discussion of looking rather than sounding like a dying duck.
a sudden bright light had flashed upon her (p. 172)
See Biblia Wodehousiana.
Chapter Eleven (pp. 174–192)
Catterick Bridge (p. 174)
Racecourse in North Yorkshire, England. Races were first held there in 1783.
the milk of human kindness (p. 174)
From Macbeth; see Shakespeare Quotations and Allusions in Wodehouse.
bonhomie (p. 175)
Easy good nature (Fr).
iron seemed to have entered into his soul (p. 175)
See Sam the Sudden.
Romano’s (p. 175)
Romano’s Restaurant at 400 The Strand, London was founded by an Italian but served French food.
Patrons included the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII).
It was bombed in World War II.
apostolic claims of the church of Abyssinia (p. 175)
Apparently the claim that Christianity was introduced to Abyssinia (part of modern Ethiopia and Eritrea) by the apostles Matthew and Bartholemew.
sewing mailbags (p. 178)
An occupation for British prisoners until the 1970s.
best-laid plans had gone agley (p. 179)
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley…
To a Mouse, by Robert Burns (’On Turning her up in her Nest, with the Plough, November 1785’).
“Often go awry” is the sense.
The Wrekin (p. 185)
A hill in east Shropshire, with an Iron Age hill fort at its summit.
A prominent landmark and popular walking destination.
Bredon that A. E. Housman wrote about (p. 185)
A. E. Housman (1859–1936), classical scholar and poet.
Author of the poetry collection A Shropshire Lad, in which poem 21 is entitled Bredon Hill (the hill itself is in Worcestershire).
purler (p. 186)
A headlong or heavy fall.
Polk’s a good Norfolk name (p. 186)
Further research needed. A genealogy website says it is of Scottish origin, and currently in the UK is most prevalent in South Lanark.
Smithsonian (p. 187)
The Smithsonian Institution in the USA is owner of numerous museums and collections, “an Establishment for the increase & diffusion of knowledge among men”.
Taken into government control during the term of President Polk.
girl Friday (p. 188)
Right-hand woman, on the model of Friday the bosom companion of Robinson Crusoe, in the 1719 novel of that name by Daniel Defoe.
lorgnette (p. 190)
Spectacles with a vertical handle rather than side-bars.
Chapter Twelve (pp. 193–201)
infirm of purpose (p. 193)
See Shakespeare Quotations and Allusions.
peignoir (p. 193)
A woman’s dressing gown, especially a fine lightweight one.
chatelaine (p. 195)
A female keeper or mistress of a castle or large household.
Wibley-in-the-Vale (Worcestershire) (p. 199)
Further research required. Not to be confused with East Wibley, Hampshire (Joy in the Morning).
Chapter Thirteen (pp. 202–222)
life is stern and life is earnest (p. 203)
See Very Good, Jeeves.
Barribault’s (p. 205)
See Ice in the Bedroom.
special licence… Archbishop of Canterbury (p. 207)
The Archbishop of Canterbury is principal leader of the Church of England.
A Special Licence issued by his office allowed marriage in any church, whereas a Common Licence usually restricted the location to one or two parishes.
have it registered (p. 208)
Obtain proof of sending (often proof of delivery was subsequently available).
those Scotch reviewers Byron disliked so much (p. 209)
A satirical poem “English Bards and Scotch Reviewers” appeared anonymously in 1809. The second edition identified Lord Byron as the author.
His first book of poetry Hours of Idleness (1807) had been panned in the Edinburgh Review.
“from the halls of Montezuma” (p. 214)
The first line of the US Marines’ Hymn: it refers to the Battle of Chapultepec 1847 when the Marines stormed Chapultepec Castle in Mexico during the Mexican-American War.
Aztec Emperor Montezuma was long dead, having been killed during the invasion by Spain, and the castle was built two centuries later, so the line is employing poetic license.
From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country’s battles
In the air, on land, and sea;​
Admiration of the nation,
we’re the finest ever seen;
And we glory in the title
Of United States Marines.
…
passed beyond the veil (p. 215)
breach of promise (p. 217)
See Ukridge.
Lochinvars (p. 219)
See Right Ho, Jeeves.
Chapter Fourteen (pp. 220–222)
Peace, perfect peace with loved ones far away (p. 221)
See Uncle Dynamite.
Nassau … That’s where the falls are, isn’t it? (p. 221)
Emsworth is confusing Nassau (the capital city of the Bahama Islands) with Niagara Falls, on the border between the USA and Canada — both popular honeymoon destinations.
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