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<p>If you want some pictures (and recipes) see these links. My
preference was always for (English) crumpets over (English)
muffins, and living outside the UK I miss them.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/english_muffins_56640">https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/english_muffins_56640</a><br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumpet">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumpet</a><br>
<br>
The UK slang use of crumpet in a sexual sense is discussed in
Partridge’s Dictionary of British Slang, and apparently dates back
to the 1880s. I doubt Woolf was aware of it.<br>
<br>
Jeremy H</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 20.08.2019 10:34, Stuart N. Clarke
via Vwoolf wrote:<br>
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<div>I ‘as bin readin’ “Counsel’s Opinion”, Bella Sidney
Woolf’s jointly-written privately published one-act play of
1922, presumably written for am.dram. performances of and
for expats in Honkers. Can that be so? It was printed in
HK, but Bella was still in Colombo; she only moved to HK in
1925. So, perhaps it was intended for expats in Colombo,
and it is a coincidence that her husband Tom Southorn’s
career took him from Colombo to HK.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Anyway, the play is set in “A room in the Temple”,
belonging to a “Lady Barrister”. That’s progressive, and
even more progressive is that her love interest (another
barrister) finally accepts that he “was old-fashioned enough
to think that men must work and women must housekeep”.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>However, she has a clerk, Jenkins, who is also female:
“As the curtain rises, JENKINS, a quaint person in a black
frock is toasting muffins in front of the fire. She is
singing ‘. . .’ [censored, in case the sensitives are caused
distress]”. Jenkins and references to muffins continue
throughout the play. The muffins and the dropped aitches
(e.g. “D’yer like yer muffins ‘alf-toasted or done to a
coal-black cinder?”) reminds me of “Orlando”: “The muffins
is keepin’ ’ot in the liberry”.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>As part of the US imperial project, American muffins have
invaded the UK and are gradually taking over. They are
advertised as muffins, as if English muffins didn’t exist.
American muffins are the teatime equivalent of the grey
[sic] squirrel.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>It is a sobering thought that generations of Americans
have not known what muffins were in “Orlando”. Some may
have wondered why they needed to be kept ‘ot, or why one
should apply butter to them (see “The Importance of Being
Earnest”).</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The new CUP edn of “Orlando” provides info. on the
history of the muffin (and the crumpet) under the quote “The
muffin was invented and the crumpet”, but does not explain
what a muffin actually is. Of course, you can look up a
dictionary, but sometimes you don’t know that you *need* to
look up a dictionary. Cf. “street scavengers” in “Jacob’s
Room”.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Stuart</div>
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