Isobel: "I think Cousin Robert is referring to Ethel's work as a prostitute."

Violet: ". . . Well, of course these days servants are very hard to find."

Robert: "They do say there's a wild man inside all of us."

Violet: "If only he would stay inside."

"Vulgarity is no substitute for wit"

Well, thank goodness for this thread.

I was watching Downton Abbey tonight and Lord Useless So&So, a penniless gentleman bird dogging Lady Grantham's wealthy & widowed mother, referred to his title as "a lonely barony (or possibly baronetcy)" meaning that while he was a Lord, his daughter's honorific was only the Honorable, not Lady.

I tried googling "lonely barony" and "lonely baronetcy" but nought of interest appeared.

So Adam, it immediately occurred to me that you are the only person I've met in a long time whose brain was packed with as many odd tidbits of information as mine and that you might be able to help me scratch my itch.

Life Baron doesn't really fit the context. I'm guessing that the phrase is English slang for a certain type of title but for the life of me I can't figure it out.

Of course, picky I am not, so join in the scratching others may.

Rather than any such title or similar existing, isn't he saying simply, as you imply, that his title of baron will expire with him?

"...normally, only male heirs are allowed to succeed to the peerage." http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hereditary_peer

See also, for exhaustive and exhausting detail: http://www.jobev.com/title.html

If there is some subtlety I am missing, point me and I will take up the chase again, styling myself on the dry tedious old cleric Dr Casaubon in Middlemarch writing his endless 'Key to All Mythologies,' of whom one of the local dowagers asks what is his family crest, and another beldame answers, 'No doubt three Cuttlefish sable with a Commentator rampant.'

Apparently all daughters of viscounts (& lower ranking peers) are the honorables rather than ladies, at least according to "today's most skilful writer of intelligent historical romance." And what better authority could one ask?

And I suspect that you are correct that the lonely bit relates relates to Lord Useless's lack of make heirs.

====

Ahhhhh...

my balls feel so much better now.

Thanks Adam. I would never have thought to look under romance novels.

love this show

I was watching Downton Abbey tonight and Lord Useless So&So, a penniless gentleman bird dogging Lady Grantham's wealthy & widowed mother, referred to his title as "a lonely barony (or possibly baronetcy)" meaning that while he was a Lord, his daughter's honorific was only the Honorable, not Lady.

I tried googling "lonely barony" and "lonely baronetcy" but nought of interest appeared.

Watched this episode last night and I believe the self-deprecating Lord Aysgarth said "lowly barony" although, like many in the British upper classes, his mouth was full of pebbles and it was hard to tell.

He may have been lonely as well, but lowly fits the facts nicely with a Baron being at the bottom of the peerage pecking order. And, according to this Wikipedia article, it's the age of the title, rather than the title itself, that determines heritability. The older titles do descend through females while the more recently created ones don't.

Perhaps some of our nobler fellow posters will weigh in if I've fumbled this folderol. I've been so common for so long, it's more than a possibility.

Like!

Ahhh...Lowly

now that makes all kinds of sense.

Thanks ever so much for pointing that out, lookin, you #@%%&@*

Thanks ever so much for pointing that out, lookin, you #@%%&@*

Remember, I merely thought that's what he said. The fiction of his diction left much to the imagination.

Not sure if I had heard correctly, I tried saying 'lonely' versus 'lowly' out loud and was amazed by how small a shift in tongue placement is required to switch from one word to the other.

Not to further divert this august thread away from the Dowager Countess, but Julian Fellowes seems to have enough good lines to go around. Some that had me laughing out loud this weekend were bestowed on Lady Mary and Charles Blake, and on Carson the butler.

First, after saving the recently acquired pigs from dehydration, Blake and Lady Mary devolve into a mud fight.

What do I look like?

You belong in Country Life. "Lady Mary Crawley, seen here to advantage relaxing at the family seat in Yorkshire."

Then, after pressing Ethan, Harold Levinson's American valet, into service at Lady Rose's ball, Carson catches him actively and vocally pushing savories onto passing guests.

You're a footman, not a traveling salesman.

That's probably why I can watch these episodes again and again. Always something I missed the first time.

Just starting tonights season opener now.

On tonights show

Dowager Countess: It's simple to avoid the people you don't like, it's more of a challenge to avoid ones friends. To Mrs. Crawley