Translation

Direct: "Castile rose" or "Castilian rose"

Most likely referencing a flower from a region in Spain of the same name.

(1.1) "A leisurely walk, or sometimes a ride or drive, taken in a public place so as to meet or be seen by others."

Definition via Lexico

"Cause (an offence) to seem less serious."

Lexico

(2) "The description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way."

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note: can be read as "he was induced to come south [under the impression] that there was plenty of government land..."

"Excessive bureaucracy or adherence to official rules and formalities."

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(1) "Available for use at the discretion of the user."

Lexico

note: can be read as "at my discretion."

[mass noun]

"Proud haughtiness of manner."

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Adj. [North American] "Somewhat picayune; insignificant, trifling, petty, mean."

Definition via Lexico

Translation

"Chicken empanadas."

An empanada is "A Spanish or Latin American pastry turnover filled with a variety of savory ingredients and baked or fried."

Lexico

"(also sweet marjoram) An aromatic southern European plant of the mint family, the leaves of which are used as a culinary herb."

Also known as oregano.

Lexico

Translation

"olive"

Spanish Dictionary

Translation

"sesame"

Spanish Dictionary

(1.1) "The outcome of a situation, when something is decided or made clear."

Lexico

[dated North American] A cheap, popular novel, typically a melodramatic romance or adventure story.

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Noun (4) "archaic A generous glassful of an alcoholic drink, typically one drunk as a toast."

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Noun (1) "A person who travels from place to place on foot in search of work or as a vagrant or beggar."

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(1) [archaic] "Malaria or another illness involving fever and shivering."

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Translation

"Who knows"

Translation

"little sister"

(1) "The protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power."

Definition via Lexico

(1) "In a way that is secure and reliable."

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[mass noun] "A card game, usually for two players, in which the objective is to play so that the pip value of one's cards played reaches exactly 15 or 31."

Defintion via Lexico

(1) [Rhetoric] "Address an exclamatory passage in a speech or poem to (someone or something)"

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Translation

"blue blood"

Clarification: meaning her infatuation with Clarence.

[Literary] "Of long ago or former times (used in nostalgic or mock-nostalgic recollection)"

Definition via Lexico

(3a.) "Of an individual: having the characteristics of a soldier; soldierly. Of a person's attitude, bearing, or conduct: characteristic of a soldier."

"military, adj. and n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2020, www.oed.com/view/Entry/118428. Accessed 21 July 2020.

(1) "(typically of children) irritable and quarrelsome."

Lexico

(adj) "Relating to or characteristic of soldiers or armed forces."

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Like mole, it's a sauce but it's made of pumpkin or squash seeds rather than nuts.

Check out a version of the recipe here.

"Modesty or shyness resulting from a lack of self-confidence."

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(1) "The partially shaded outer region of the shadow cast by an opaque object."

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"A person who engages in crime and violence; a hooligan or gangster."

Lexico

"A youthful street rowdy; ‘a loafing youth of mischievous proclivities’; a dangerous rough. Also in more general use."

"hoodlum, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2020, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88259. Accessed 20 July 2020.

Referring to bull vs bear market:

Bull: [Stock market] "A market in which share prices are rising, encouraging buying."

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Bear: [Stock market] A market in which share prices are falling, encouraging selling.

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(1) "A ship, boat, or locomotive powered by steam."

Definition via Lexico

(1.1) [North American historical ]"The right to purchase public land before the opportunity is offered to others."

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(1) "Move (a baby or young child) up and down in a playful or affectionate way."

Lexico

(1) "Chiefly colloquial. A girl or woman exhibiting characteristics associated with a cat, esp. sweetness or amiability. Frequently used as a pet name or as a term of endearment."

"pussy, n. and adj.2." OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2020, www.oed.com/view/Entry/155161. Accessed 19 July 2020.

"Excessive confidence or boldness; audacity."

Definition via Lexico

"a nap"

Spanish Dictionary

"Grossly unfair and morally wrong."

Lexico

(1) "to lasso"

Spanish Dictionary

"rope"

Spanish Dictionary

"A rope used as a lasso or for tethering."

Lexico

Possibly, because Spanish often appears in italics, it could be derived from "busque" meaning, "to look (for)."

also

Possibly deriving from French, "brusquer" meaning "rush." As in "rush around."

"(in Spanish-speaking parts of the US) a cowboy; a cattle driver."

Emphasis mine.

Lexico

(2) "A round-up of cattle on a ranch for branding, counting, etc."

Lexico

[historical US Law] "A formal renunciation or relinquishing of a claim."

Lexico

"Denoting a cow or other domestic mammal giving or kept for milk."

Lexico

(2) [usually treated as plural] "Ordinary people, as distinct from professionals or experts."

Lexico

(1) "Property inherited from one's father or male ancestor."

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literary "Of or concerning marriage."

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Scylla and Charybdis, the mythological monster and whirlpool which would together destroy seamen passing through the Strait of Messina. See The Odyssey.

Here, it is a hyperbolic description of Clarence's situation. He is likening the women that may be in either of the houses to deadly mythological monsters.

(2) "(also Don) A Spanish title prefixed to a male forename."

Lexico

(2) "dated [with direct speech] Say something quickly and suddenly."

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Christian Biblical reference meaning here that Clarence would not be harmed.

Daniel

Fiery Furnace

"The process of taking legal action."

Lexico

(1.1) "Return (a case) to a lower court for reconsideration."

Lexico

Placed on the part of the "settlers" in order to prolong litigation that they might claim the land they squat on indefinitely.

(2) "Apply to a higher court for a reversal of the decision of a lower court."

Lexico

What is the Attorney General?

Meaning the commission created by the California Land Act of 1851 determined that the claim was invalid.

(4) "A right or claim to the ownership of property or to a rank or throne."

Definition via Lexico

(2) "In the western U.S. and Latin America: a farm, esp. a cattle farm; a ranch."

"rancho, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2020, www.oed.com/view/Entry/157956. Accessed 18 July 2020.

adj. 1 "of lower status"

Definition via Lexico

"A person who unlawfully occupies an uninhabited building or unused land."

"North American, Australian, New Zealand historical A settler with no legal title to the land occupied, typically one on land not yet allocated by a government."

Emphasis mine.

Definition via Lexico

"(of a person's voice) loud and powerful."

Definition via Lexico

Referring to their complexion, "A member of a travelling people traditionally living by itinerant trade and fortune telling. Gypsies speak a language (Romany) that is related to Hindi and are believed to have originated in South Asia."

note: "Gypsy" is a racial/ethnic slur.

Lexico

(1.1) "Intrusively enthusiastic in offering help or advice; interfering."

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"Showing or feeling hesitancy; uncertain."

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"Accused by oneself of a crime or fault, or of being the thing specified."

Lexico

"Lacking concentration on what is happening around one."

Definition via Lexico

(1.1) " (especially of air or climate) pleasantly mild and warm."

Definition via Lexico

"Friendly and cheerful."

Definition via Lexico

"Health-giving; healthy."

Definition via Lexico

"A lively dance associated with sailors, typically performed by one person."

Definition via Lexico

referring to the squatters, a synonym of "land-grabber," meaning: "A person who seizes and possesses land in an unfair or unlawful manner."

Definition via Lexico

"Steal or violently remove valuable possessions from; plunder."

Definition via Lexico

(2) "Deserving of infamy; of shameful badness, vileness, or abominableness; of a character or quality deserving utter reprobation. (One of the strongest adjectives of detestation.)"

"infamous, adj." OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2020, www.oed.com/view/Entry/95198. Accessed 18 July 2020.

(2) "A driver of a team of animals."

Definition via Lexico

(noun) "A list of goods sent or services provided, with a statement of the sum due for these; a bill."

Defintion via Lexico

Note: can be read as "shipment."

(2) "(treated as singular) A quadrille for eight or sixteen pairs."

Definition via Lexico

"A person who has converted from one opinion, religion, or party to another."

Definition via Lexico

"A square dance performed typically by four couples and containing five figures, each of which is a complete dance in itself."

Definition via Lexico

This paragraph draws attention to the inherent corruption of those who willfully trespass on Mexican land grants. For more information on historical context of this novel navigate to the historicity page.

"Commandant" is used again here, this time in tandem with "subaltern" which not only acknowledges an amount of power which Mrs. Darrell possesses but also lessens Mr. Darrell, though not disrespectfully. He would genuinely bow to Mrs. Darrell's will for the sake of her happiness.

adj. 1 "of lower status"

Definition via Lexico

Ruiz de Burton subverts traditional gender roles in the diction used in the dialogue between Mr. and Mrs. Darrell. "'...I have obeyed you all my life," says Mr. Darrell as though he has had no choice when the very act of obeisance is a choice.

"'...if you didn't agree to come North to be my commandant.'"

The word "commandant" is highly specific and denotes the high amount of respect and power that Mrs. Darrell wields in Mr. Darrell's eyes.

Referring to the act of paying rent or buying from a Mexican land grant owner in the hopes of having a legal claim to the land. Mr. Darrell and his family were most likely evicted, either due to the rejection of the Mexican land grant or another person laid claim to the land at the same time in Sonoma and Napa. It is said that there were some cases in which three or more people made claims on the same land at once, resulting in lengthy and expensive litigation amongst claimants (Pisani 450-451).

The Alamar rancho is, in this story, the land granted to Don Mariano Alamar in San Diego.

The Darrells are reluctant to be labeled as squatters, they did not believe they had done anything wrong by cultivating and profiting off of land they do not legally own. Mr. Darrell asserts that they are settlers, and Mrs. Darrell again corrects him.

"Whenever you take up government land, yes, you are 'settlers,' but not when you locate claims on land belonging to anyone else."

Her words call attention to the political intention behind what outwardly appears as a romance novel.

Mrs. Darrell contradicts herself here, seeing as she is complicit as a squatter through her marriage to a squatter.

"A person who unlawfully occupies an uninhabited building or unused land."

"North American, Australian, New Zealand historical A settler with no legal title to the land occupied, typically one on land not yet allocated by a government."

Emphasis mine.

Definition via Lexico

Mrs. Darrell is contrary in tone, correcting her husband that it is not the name "Squatter" itself that bothers her, rather what it entails.

"(of a person's voice) loud and powerful."

Definition via Lexico

Mr. Darrell's facetious tone highlights the shame he carries about being called a squatter and for having done things that allowed him to be labeled as such.

At the time, squatters and their families justified occupying land owned by those with Mexican land grants by citing the "law of necessity": the right to provide the basic necessities of food and a place to sleep to their families. For them, this law was perceived as "natural" and therefore beyond the control of any man or government (Pisani 450-1).

Mrs. Darrell is the one speaking. Her remark, though meant to console her husband, applies to other themes within the novel. It is a commentary on integrity of individuals and institutions that continue to undermine their own in the context of land ownership after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the California Land Act of 1851. Squatters “sought to profit from land they occupied without clear title,” and former Mexican citizens had to go to court over the land they already owned via Mexican land grants (Pisani 452).

Pisani, Donald J. “The Squatter and Natural Law in Nineteenth-Century America.” Agricultural History, vol. 81, no. 4, Fall 2007, pp. 443–463. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3098/ah.2007.81.4.443.