Barlow knife a jackknife with one blade.

bars a thing that blocks the way or prevents entrance or further movement, as in a sandbar.

bilgewater water that collects in the bilge of a ship, slang for worthless or silly talk.

black slouch a felt hat with a broad, floppy rim.

blame a milder slang alternative for “damned.”

bowie a steel knife about fifteen inches long, with a single edge, usually carried in a sheath.

buckle to paddle hard.

bullyragged scolded, chastised.

Cairo city in southern Illinois, at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

calico a printed cotton fabric.

camp-meeting here, a religious revival.

Capet Hugh Capet, king of France (987-996); here, the duke’s reference to the king.

carpet-bag an old-fashioned type of traveling bag, made of carpeting.

Congress-water mineral water from Saratoga said to have medicinal properities.

consumption tuberculosis.

corn-pone corn meal.

cravats neckerchiefs or scarves.

curry-comb a metal comb.

dauphin the eldest son of the king of France, a title used from 1349 to 1830.

delirium tremens involuntary muscle spasm usually associate with drinking alcohol and characterized by sweating, anxiety, and hallucinations.

dog-fennel any of several weeds or wildflowers of the composite family, having daisylike flower heads.

doggery a saloon.

dog-irons iron braces used to hold firewood.

down in de bills predestined, foreordained by divine decree or intent.

doxolojer the doxology; a hymn of praise to God.

erysipelas an acute infectious disease of the skin or mucous membranes caused by a streptococcus and characterized by local inflammation and fever.

fan-tods the nervous fidgets.

five-center piece monetary equivalent of a nickel. Nickels were not minted until after the Civil War.

foreordination predestination.

forty-rod cheap whisky.

fox-fire the luminescence of decaying wood and plant remains, caused by various fungi.

gabble to talk rapidly and incoherently; jabber; chatter.

galoot [Slang] a person, esp. an awkward, ungainly person.

gar needlefish.

gingham a yarn-dyed cotton cloth, usually woven in stripes, checks, or plaids.

habob aristocratic member of the community.

harrow a frame with spikes or sharp-edged disks, drawn by a horse or tractor and used for breaking up and leveling plowed ground, covering seeds, rooting up weeds, etc.

harrow-teeth wood or metal spikes used to plow land.

high-toned aristocratic or snobbish.

hived robbed.

irish potato the common white potato; so called because extensively cultivated in Ireland.

jackstaff an iron rod or wooden bar on a ship to which the sails are fastened.

jimpson weed jimson weed; a poisonous annual weed (Datura stramonium) of the nightshade family, with foul-smelling leaves, prickly fruit, and white or purplish, trumpet-shaped flowers.

juice harp jew’s harp, a small musical instrument consisting of a lyre-shaped metal frame held between the teeth and played by plucking a projecting bent piece with the finger.

Langudoc Languedoc, historical region of southern France.

lay in ambuscade hide in ambush.