by Dylan Thomas
p. 27 breathed: MS had 'snored' which was followed in the Jones edition. In the Yale TS, however, Thomas deleted 'snored' and interlined 'breathed', which we adopt.
p. 28 It was doctored: Above 'doctored' in the Yale TS, Thomas tried 'cured' then crossed it out and wrote 'neutered'. He was again thinking of the American audience.
p. 28 Yesterday,: The comma in MS and TS was omitted in the Jones edition.
p. 28 corgis: Thomas spelled the plural of 'corgi' (a Welsh breed of dog) as 'corgies', which was followed in the Jones edition. We have substituted the correct form.
As shown in the MS (the May 1953 typescript) Thomas was thinking of offering the American audience 'spaniels' instead, but he deleted that alternative.
p. 29 under the dancing vests: This was 'vests' in Botteghe and in the typescript used in New York in May 1953. As seen in MS, the word was there altered to 'underclothes', which appeared in the BBC typing and the Jones edition. Although Thomas did not restore 'vests' in the Yale TS, we revert to that earlier word, as the change was undoubtedly meant for the American audience only.
p. 29 A baby cries: A marginal note in Yale TS, 'Nancy cry here', indicates that Nancy Wickwire, one of the performers in New York in October 1953, was to supply the appropriate sound effect.
p. 29 [Children's voices, up and out]: Sound effects in MS and TS omitted in the Jones edition.
p. 29 measures, with his eye, the dawdlers by, / to himself,: The Jones edition omits the commas of MS and TS, and hyphenates 'dawdlers by', without manuscript authority.
p. 29 behind his eye: MS had semi-colon; this was typed as a colon at the BBC; the Jones edition dropped the punctuation.
p. 29 Milk churns: The hyphen of the Jones edition is not found in MS and TS.
p. 29 short, silver: The Jones edition omits the comma of MS and TS.
p. 30 And the children's voices cry away: MS (the May 1953 typescript0 had a small segment at this point, which Thomas deleted:(Clip-clop of horses' feet on cobbles.)
CAPTAIN CAT (loudly)
Morning, Big Ben.
MAN'S VOICE
Morning, Captain.
(Clip-clop fades.)
(Noise of children running on cobbles.
CAPTAIN CAT (softly to himself)
Glyndur Jones, late again. (loudly) You'll copy it,
Glyndur. Put a book down your breeches.
(Noise of child on cobbles fades.)
p. 31 nice clean: MS and TS have underlining, but the emphasis is omitted in the Jones edition.
p. 31 and putting: There is no MS or TS authority for the dots before 'and', as found in the Jones edition.
p. 31 to the kitchen,: The comma of MS and TS is omitted in the Jones edition.
p. 31 How's the twins' teeth?: The Jones edition (1974) has 'twin's'; MS and TS have the plural 'twins''.
The following passage was in the May 1953 typescript used for MS but was deleted:(Noise of feet on cobbles, coming nearer.)
CAPTAIN CAT
Six, seven, eight. Plain sealed brown envelope from Liverpool for the lodger in Craig-y-Don. Don't stick a pin in it, Willy. Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen.
p. 32 how to do in Mrs Pugh: In the May 1953 typescript there was an added clause: 'and there's careful the lodger is getting in Crag-y-Don…' This was crossed out in MS.
p. 32 Down the street comes Willy Nilly. And Captain Cat hears other steps approaching: At first, MS and TS had sound effects, as in the Jones edition, but in both MS and TS Thomas deletes the sound effects and puts them into the narration, as here.
p. 32 an egg in it: The 'a egg' of the Jones edition omits the comma of MS and TS.
p. 33 People are moving now,: The Jones edition omits the comma of MS and TS.
p. 33 jumper it's: The Jones edition follows the BBC typist, who added a comma after 'jumper', where MS had none.
p. 33 Organ Morgan's at it early: The Botteghe printing (May 1952) ended at this point. Captain Cat's speeches as found there towards the end received much revision.
p. 33 watering the town: There is no manuscript authority for the Jones edition's adding dots and fusing two paragraphs together that are separate in MS and TS.
p,. 34 Can you hear: This passage is given to Captain Cat in the Jones edition without manuscript authority.
A marginal note by Thomas to this passage asks for 'more sex'.
p. 34 buttery foot: MS and TS have 'foot', not the 'feet' of the Jones edition.
p. 34 [A cock crows.]: Thomas has a marginal note in MS: 'Louder'.
p. 34 [Out background organ music.]: There is no manuscript authority for the sound effects in the form ('Organ music fades into silence') given in the Jones edition.
p. 34 shrimp nets: The Jones edition adds a hyphen, not present in MS and TS. Just previous to 'shrimp nets' in the list, MS had 'senna pods', but it was deleted.
p. 35 She said / Go on / Now don't you dare: The Jones edition uses lower case at the beginning of these lines without manuscript authority, and adds end punctuation to some of the lines in this section where MS and TS have none.
p. 36 Outside, the sun: In MS Thomas had a rehearsal note in the margin: 'lighter'.
p. 36 Evans the Death presses hard, with black goes, on the coffin of his breast,: The Jones edition omits the commas of MS and TS.
pp.36-37 [Harsh] / [Tearful]: The Jones edition changes these to 'harshly' and 'tearfully' without manuscript authority.
p. 37 Captain Cat sea-memory: The Jones edition (1974) offers the emendation 'Cat's', but we follow MS and TS which are satisfactory here, with 'sea-memory' functioning adverbially.
p. 37 where she was born,: The Jones edition drops the comma of MS and TS.
p. 38 today all: The Jones edition adds a comma between 'today' and 'all' not in MS and TS.
p. 38 so what is the use I say: After this sentence, MS (the May 1953 typescript) had: 'Butcher Beynon bought a check cap to go badgering he said'. This was deleted in MS. A note in the Yale TS (where the sentence does not occur) reads: 'But the Butcher Beynon' — which seems to indicate that some members of the cast of October 1953 were still using the May 1953 script.
p. 38 Workhouse: Thomas had 'Workhouse' in MS but altered it to 'Poorhouse', presumably for the American audience in May 1953. This was typed at the BBC as 'poorhouse'. The Jones edition has 'workhouse'.
p. 38 herring gulls heckling: Second Voice took over from First Voice at this point.
p. 39 Too rough for fishing today: Thomas's rehearsal note on the May 1953 typescript (MS) indicates that the line should be delivered 'Lazier, Get a long'. The previous narration had the marginal note: 'Lazier'.
p. 39 [Keeping to the beat of the singing]: Stage direction as in MS and TS. The Jones edition dropping 'Keeping'.
p. 39 [Pause.]: MS had 'Long Pause' (followed in the Jones edition) but the Yale TS had 'Long' crossed out.
p. 39 tenors.: The Jones edition omitted the period found in MS and TS.
p. 39 from one of her fingerbowls,: MS had 'the fingerbowls' but in the Yale TS Thomas change 'the' to 'her'. Both MS and TS have the comma, omitted in the Jones edition.
p. 40 dirty scarlet petticoat: MS and TS had 'yellow' (followed in the Jones edition), but Thomas in New York changed 'yellow' to 'scarlet' to conform with the color of the petticoat earlier.
p. 40 God is love: The Jones edition capitalized 'love' without textual authority.
p. 40 That's our bed Thomas put six exclamation marks against this line in MS, presumably as a rehearsal note in May 1953. He put five exclamation marks after 'It's Dai, it's Dai Bread!'
p. 41 the mean old clouds!: At this point the MS had a sound effect followed in the Jones edition ('Pause. The children's singing fades'); but Thomas crossed it out in the Yale TS, followed here.
p. 41 never have such loving again: The Yale TS has Thomas's marginal note: 'Loving not lovin''.
p. 41 Little Willy Weazel is the man for me.: I MS this line was typed 'Little Wille Weazel was the man for me' both t
imes it occurs, but in the second occurrence (that is, the last line of the song) the 'was' was crossed out and 'is' interlined, and this was followed by the BBC typist. That typist typed the twelfth line as 'Little Willie Wee was the man for me'; Thomas altered this in the Yale TS by crossing out 'Wee was' and interlining 'Weazel is'.
p. 41 the town, to: The Jones edition lacks the comma of MS and TS.
p. 42 Love, sings the Spring: In the margin of MS here Thomas wrote: 'more singing'.
Here the Jones edition omits a passage of about eleven lines down to 'says Sinbad Sailors', which Thomas had crossed out in MS as not to be read in Tenby. The BBC typist skipped over them, but Thomas replaced them in New York in the Yale TS, presumably from a copy of the May 1953 script retained by Elizabeth Reitell.
p. 42 answers,: Comma as in MS and TS, dropped in the Jones edition.
p. 43 CHILDREN'S VOICES: The changes to these two lines made in the Jones edition have no manuscript authority.
p. 43 Ding: The Jones edition uses lower case instead of the capital letter of MS and TS.
p. 43 cobbles…: The dots of MS and TS are left out of the Jones edition.
p. 44 I kiss you in Goosegog Lane: The Jones edition ends the line with a period not found in MS and TS.
p. 44 penny, mister: The Jones edition drops the comma of MS and TS.
p. 44 Kiss me in Milk Wood: In MS Thomas wrote in the margin of this line 'a bird in a bush', and then deleted it.
p. 45 said I mustn't: As in MS. The BBC typist typed 'says', which was followed in the Jones edition.
p. 45 barefoot women: In MS the women were also 'knickerless', but Thomas deleted that word.
p. 45 cawl: MS and TS have 'cowl'. A Texas typescript has 'cawl' altered in Thomas's hand to 'cowl'. As in Jones edition, we print 'cawl', the Welsh word for a particular kind of broth.
p. 46 nugget / coughdrops: The Jones edition hyphenated 'coughdrops' and emended 'nugget' to 'nougat' without manuscript authority.
From the typed list in MS thomas deleted 'humbugs', 'a hot pen north of brandyballs', 'tooth-loosening toffee of tar' and 'stale bags of black boiled marbles'.
p. 46 street steaming / cockcrow: These forms are as in MS and TS.
p. 46 she tells the stripped and mother-of-the-world big-beamed and Eve-hipped spring of herself: MS has marginal word: 'more'.
p. 46 forever: MS and TS have 'forever', which we follow. The Jones edition has 'for ever'.
p. 46 He grieves to his Guinness.: MS and TS have 'He', not the 'he' of the Jones edition. We have followed the Jones edition in supplying the correct trade name for Guinness, which Thomas spells 'guiness' in MS and TS.
p. 46 Gossamer B.,: The Jones edition lacks the period, as found in MS and TS.
p. 47 she turns, in a terror of delight,: The Jones edition omits the commas found in MS and TS, but adds a comma after 'conflagration' not in MS and TS.
p. 47 toxologists: We have preserved Thomas's attractive neologism as found in MS and TS, for which the Jones edition gives the more correct 'toxicologists'.
p. 48 dining vault: Not hyphenated in MS and TS.
p. 48 in Milk Wood: These words were crossed out in MS, and omitted in the BBC typing, but they were reinstated in the Yale TS.
p. 48 Oh, they didn't fool me: MS has this underlined, with a May 1953 rehearsal note: 'more', later deleted.
p. 48 Tom Spit: The original MS 'Tom' was changed to 'Bob', which appeared therefore in the BBC typing (and in the Jones edition); but Thomas altered it back to 'Tom' in the Yale TS.
p. 48 Oh, Bach without any doubt: MS has Thomas's rehearsal note in the margin: 'more'.
p. 49 —(one for each year of his loony age)—: The Jones edition changed to commas the parentheses and dashes of MS and TS, which we restore.
p. 49 heart-knocks / chime and tock / tick tock: These are the forms found in MS and TS, emended in the Jones edition.
p. 49 pretty Polly hums and longs: MS has Thomas's rehearsal note from May 1953: '(parenth[es]is casually)'.
p. 50 arms—: The dash of MS and TS is dropped in the Jones edition.
p. 50 [A long silence.]: Thomas added 'long' in the Yale TS.
p. 50 Pigs grunt: MS had 'a pride of pigs grunts'; but Thomas wrote 'No!' in the margin and later altered it.
p. 50 He puts on a soft-soaping smile: MS had 'He tries to put on'; Thomas deleted 'tries to' and added an 's' to 'put'. In the Yale TS Thomas has a rehearsal note: 'No "tries"' — which again implies that the actor was using a May 1953 script.
p. 50 prussic circle of cauldrons: Thomas marked this passage in the Yale TS and wrote a rehearsal note: 'quicker more staccato'.
p. 51 Captain Cat, at his window: MS shows that this passage was much revised in three successive stages from the original typed passage, which was as follows:Captain Cat, at his wide window, slumbers and voyages, tattooed and ear-ringed and rolling on the old clippered seas, brawls with broken bottles in the fug and babel of the dark dock bars, has a herd of short and good-time-cows in every naughty port, tattooed with Union Jacks and little women who hula shimmy and ripple and I love you Rosie Probert on his belly he roves those dead sea days and the drowned and cut-throat hair-dyed high breasted schooner-and-harbour-town dead go with him dancing and slashing and making ghosts' love; and the tears run down his grogblossomed nose.
p. 51 blowsy-breasted: There is no manuscript authority for the Jones edition's 'blowzy-breasted'. The MS had 'blowsy-breasted', which was typed at the BBC as 'blousy-breasted'. Thomas's spelling probably sought to fuse 'blowzy' and 'blouse'.
p. 51 and the tears run down his grog-blossomed nose: This phrase was in the May 1953 typescript, but was inadvertently left out when Thomas revised MS and thus was not included in the BBC typing (or in the Jones edition). However, Thomas wrote it in on the Yale TS.
p. 51 from the bedroom of her dust: Thomas tried inserting 'short-time' before bedroom, but then deleted it.
p. 51 Mrs Probert — / Rosie —: Thomas added pencil dashes to the MS, which were typed in at the BBC. The Jones edition substituted dots. MS and TS also had 'From' capitalized, rather than the Jones edition's lower case.
p. 52 sugar sailor: There is no manuscript authority for the period at the end of this line in the Jones edition. Thomas had marginal lines against this passage in MS (the May 1953 typescript) with the word 'more'.
p. 52 Rosie Probert: In MS Thomas added the word 'repetition' in the margin of this line of Captain Cat's.
p. 53 crying./crying,/Come back come back/nose…: The Jones edition emends the punctuation of this passage without manuscript authority.
p. 54 lies silky, tingling uneasy: Commas are added in the Jones edition without manuscript authority.
p. 54 grass, ho ho: The comma of MS and TS was left out in the Jones edition. MS had 'sweet in the grass you liar', which was deleted and the present words interlined.
p. 54 Lifeword: / worships in: : The Jones edition substituted dashes for the colons of MS and TS.
p. 54 blackcloth diningtable: MS 'backcloth' was mistyped at the BBC as 'black-clothes' (followed in the Jones edition). MS and TS have 'diningtable' as one word, not hyphenated as in the Jones edition.
p. 54 in her stays: MS had the additional words 'and smiles', but they were deleted.
p. 55 Oh, angels be careful there with your knives and forks: The comma of MS and TS were left out in the Jones edition. This line had been part of the narration in MS but Thomas reassigned it to the Rev. Eli Jenkins there. The Yale TS shows it as deleted.
A few lines earlier, in the Yale TS Thomas also deleted the following words: 'next to faint lady watercolors of pale green Milk Wood like a lettuce salad dying'. Both were omitted in the Mademoiselle printing. We ignore these deletions.
p. 55 grieved: Past tense in MS and TS. The Jones edition changed it to the present tense.
p. 55 licks his hand: MS had 'hand', which was mistyped at the BBC as 'hands' (followed in the Jones edition).
p. 55 he raves-and-dances: MS
had hyphens, which were dropped by the BBC typist and also omitted in the Jones edition.
p. 55 summerbreath'd: MS has 'summerbreathed' (followed in the Jones edition), but in the Yale TS Thomas deliberately crossed out the 'e' and substituted an apostrophe to secure the desired meaning.
p. 55 They bow their heads: In MS Thomas wrote 'Holy' against this line, then deleted it.
p. 56 love-light / cripple!— / dusk-shower / Sea View / highbacked: These are the forms found in MS, and adopted here.
p. 56 Husbands: This exchange, down to 'take them off', was deleted in the Yale TS and did not appear in Mademoiselle. We ignore this deletion.
p. 57 listening to the nannygoats: MS had 'and listening', which was changed in the BBC typing to 'listens', which appears in the Jones edition; but Thomas crossed out 'and' in the Yale TS and interlined 'listening'.
p. 57 And at the doorway: MS has 'The Reverend Eli Jenkins's Sunset Poem' on two separate small sheets headed A and B with a note in the typed pages 'Insert A and B'. Two of the deleted lines of A are: Look mercifully down, I pray,
And let us love thee in our way.
p. 57 Every morning, when: The comma of MS was dropped in the BBC typing, which was followed in the Jones edition.
p. 58 Bless us this holy night, I pray,: MS (sheet 8) had 'this holy night'; 'long dark' was interlined, then deleted; then 'winding' was interlined. In writing out the verse afresh, Thomas wrote 'winding' but then deleted it with no word to replace it, so no adjective appeared in the BBC typing. In the Yale TS Thomas interlined 'holy'. There is no manuscript authority for 'Bless us all this night' of the Jones edition (1974).
p. 58 And say goodbye: MS had 'And say, Goodbye'; this was typed at the BBC as 'And say, goodbye' then Thomas crossed out the comma in the Yale TS, which we follow.
p. 58 Cherry Owen, sober as Sunday: This line began with 'And' in the MS and was so typed at the BBC; but Thomas crossed out the word in the Yale TS.
p. 58 And aren't I a lucky woman? Because I love them both: MS has Thomas's rehearsal note: 'slower'.
