THE LEXICON

Achievement.

The full armorial display: shield, helm, wreath, mantling, crest, supporters and compartment together. Most arms are shown as the shield alone; the achievement is the whole of what was granted. The Court’s arms are its own device, assumed for its use, and not a grant of arms.

Almanac, the.

The Court’s written record of its two hundred and fifty engagements, one entry to each, set down month by month. An almanac was once the whole year in a single book: feast days, fairs, tides and the moon.

Antechamber, the.

The room outside the one where the Court sits. A card left there is not an application; it is a request to be written to when the season opens.

Arranged by the Court.

The Court’s part on an engagement in the year’s Season that it does not host. It is not an admission mark, and it may sit beside “By invitation of the host” or “Open to the public”.

One arrangement is everything the Court arranges, at a member’s request, for one such engagement: the passage, the travel there and back, the rooms, the table afterwards and whatever else belongs to it, from the day before to the day after, however many bookings it takes. It covers the member and the one guest travelling with them. The cost of what is booked is the member’s own. Where the Court cannot secure what was asked, the request is not counted among the five and no fee is charged for it.

Five arrangements a year come with every membership, and each one beyond the fifth is $150. Only engagements in the current Season that the Court does not host are counted; those the Court hosts count against none. Retired engagements and occasions outside the Season are never among the five: the Court may take them on at a sum stated beforehand, or decline. See also “Not the Court’s own”.

Arrangement, an.

The work the Court does around an engagement it does not host: passage sought, seating taken, rooms held, a table kept afterwards. Five belong to every membership each year, and each one beyond the fifth is $150. A week counts as one arrangement, and so does an afternoon. See also “Arranged by the Court”.

Attitude.

The posture in which a heraldic beast is drawn: rampant, passant, sejant and the rest. The blazon names it, and the artist does not choose it.

Aula Regum.

Latin for the court of kings, and the Court’s motto. Aula is the hall, and the court that gathers in it. Regum is plural: not one king’s court, but a court of many.

Badge, a.

The token of admission to an enclosure, worn on the coat all day and checked at the rope. It is personal: where a course issues it to its members, it may not be sold or passed on. Of everything passage covers, the badge is the part that can be seen.

Besant.

A flat gold roundel on a shield, named for the bezant, the gold coin of Byzantium. Crusaders brought both the coin and the charge back west, where it came to stand for wealth held rather than spent.

Black tie.

A dinner jacket, black or midnight blue, with a black bow tie tied by hand. For women, an evening dress, long or of cocktail length, or evening separates; a dinner jacket is equally correct. It was devised in the 1860s as informal dress for dining at home, which is why it remains the lesser of the two evening codes.

Blazon.

The written description of a coat of arms, in a fixed vocabulary and a fixed order. A blazon is the authority; any two artists working from the same words produce arms that differ in drawing but not in substance.

Box, the.

A private enclosure at a racecourse, opera house or stadium, held for the day or the season. At the races it sits above the finish; at the opera it is judged by the sightline and the ease of leaving at the interval.

Card, the.

Two customs share the word. A calling card, left at a house, said that one had called; the Antechamber keeps the custom. At the races, the card is the day’s list of races and runners.

Charge, a.

Any figure set on a shield: a beast, a cross, a crown, a besant. The besants on the Court’s shield are charges; the lions either side of it are supporters.

Chukka, a.

A period of play in polo, about seven minutes long. The word is Hindi, from chakkar, a circle; the British learned the game in India.

Code, the.

What the Court asks of those who sit at its table: dress, punctuality, the camera, discretion, introductions, guests, withdrawal and standing. It is stated plainly and held to, and breaking it is grounds for withdrawal.

Committee, the.

The body the Court appoints to decide on admission, conduct and the standing of members. It is not elected, its deliberations are not published, and its decisions are not appealed.

Compartment.

The ground beneath an achievement on which the supporters stand. It is usually a grassy mount, and it is the one part of an achievement an artist may invent freely.

Concours d’elegance.

A competition of elegance rather than speed, where motor cars are judged on originality, condition and correctness of restoration. It began in seventeenth-century Paris as a parade of carriages through the parks on a Sunday.

Country attire.

Tweed or moleskin, a shirt and tie, stout shoes or boots. For women, the same cloth, as a tweed or moleskin jacket with trousers, breeches or a skirt, and boots. It is working dress before it is anything else, and it is judged by whether it would survive the day it is worn for.

Course, the.

Golf, spoken of by its ground rather than its name. A course is judged by its routing and its condition, and a member who says they are on the course has said where they are and nothing more.

Crest.

The device standing above the helm, not the arms as a whole. The word is misused constantly; a crest is one component of an achievement, and many arms have none.

Debutante, a.

A young woman making her first formal appearance in society, from the French débuter, to lead off. At the Vienna Opera Ball the debutantes open the evening, and nobody else takes the floor until they have.

Derby, the.

A flat race for three-year-olds, first run at Epsom in 1780 and named for the twelfth Earl of Derby, who by legend won the naming on the toss of a coin. Kentucky borrowed the name in 1875.

Drive, a.

One part of a driven day, which begins when the guns are on their pegs and ends at the horn or whistle. There are four to six in a day. The guns draw for their pegs, numbered wooden stakes, before the first drive and move up the line between drives. Beaters bring the birds over the line, and on a grouse moor the guns stand in butts rather than at pegs.

Driven shoot, a.

A shoot in which beaters drive birds over a line of standing guns, rather than the guns walking the ground. The birds come high and fast, and the difficulty is entirely in the angle.

Enclosure, the.

The reserved ground at a racecourse, entered by badge and governed by its own dress code. At Ascot a section was set aside for the Royal Family and its guests in 1807, and admission by election and sponsorship followed. The badge is worn on the coat all day.

Engagement.

A date in the Court’s calendar, whether the Court hosts it or seeks places at it. The word is chosen for its second meaning: something one has undertaken to do, not something one has bought a ticket for.

Eventing.

A three-part equestrian test of dressage, cross-country and show jumping, ridden by one horse and rider across several days. It began as a cavalry examination, which is why endurance is tested before precision.

Fascinator, a.

A small ornament worn in the hair in place of a hat. The Royal Enclosure at Ascot has refused them since 2012: a headpiece there needs a solid base of at least four inches.

Field, the.

Mounted sport taken as a whole, and also the riders out on a given day. To be out with the field is to ride with the company rather than ahead of it.

First call.

The right of founding members to be asked first where an engagement has fewer places than members who want them. It settles the order of asking, not the outcome.

Founder, the.

Jimi Fagbure, who founded the Court in New York in MMXXVI and named it for Mansa, the title borne by the rulers of the Mali Empire. In the singular and with a capital, it means him alone and never the founders.

Founders’ guarantee, the.

The undertaking that returns a founding fee in full, on request, should the Founding Dinner not be held by 31 March 2027. It is the one exception to the rule that nothing paid to the Court is returned. In the Terms of Use it reads: “Save under the founders’ guarantee, by which a founding fee is returned in full on request should the Founding Dinner not be held by 31 March 2027, no fee, due or sum paid to the Court is returned on resignation or withdrawal, in whole or in part.”

Founders, the.

The first twenty-five members admitted, each holding a founding place. Written in the plural and without a capital, the word names a cohort, and it does not pass to anyone admitted afterwards.

Founding Dinner, the.

The dinner at which the founding cohort is first assembled, in January of the Court’s first Season. It is black tie and given by the Court. The founders’ guarantee turns on its being held.

Founding place, a.

Membership of the Court’s first cohort, carrying a one-time fee and exemption from annual dues for as long as the membership is held. The number is fixed at twenty-five and no more are issued. A founding place that ends is not offered again, which is the whole of its value.

Garden, the.

The Court’s summer out of doors: the lawn, the picnic, the flower show, and the opera taken with a hamper. It is kept in the months when a room would be a waste.

Gazette, the.

The Court’s weekly letter of the engagements to come, sent to those who ask for it. It is not the Antechamber’s request to be written to when the season opens.

Glorious Twelfth, the.

The twelfth of August, on which the red grouse season opens in Britain. The date has been fixed by statute since 1831, and nothing about the shooting is glorious except the fact of it beginning.

Guest, a.

The one person a member may bring to an engagement by arrangement, where the engagement allows a guest at all, and for whom the member answers. A guest is twenty-one or older and keeps the same Code as members, dress included. The word is older than the Court and keeps its first sense: one received under another’s roof and on another’s word.

Gun, a.

A person shooting, not the weapon. A driven day is arranged around a fixed number of guns, usually eight or nine, who draw for pegs and move up the line between drives.

Hamper, a.

The basket in which the Court brings a meal out of doors: the food, the linen, the glass. It belongs to the Garden: the picnic on the lawn, the opera taken with a hamper, luncheon in the tent beside a polo field. The Court brings its own and leaves nothing behind.

Haute couture.

Clothing made to a client’s measure in a Paris house’s own workrooms. The name has been protected in France since 1945, and only houses on the official list may use it.

Helm.

The helmet set above the shield, on which the crest rests. Its form once declared rank, and in several traditions still does: the degree to which the visor stands open is not a decision of the artist.

Hosted by the Court · By invitation of the host · Open to the public.

Hosted by the Court. Given by the Court itself, at a room or ground it takes for the purpose. Members reply to the invitation, and the arranging is part of the engagement and counts against none of a member’s five arrangements.

By invitation of the host. An engagement that belongs to another house and admits only those it asks. The Court seeks a place for a member only where the host extends the invitation, and the mark reads, in full, “Arranged for members who are asked.”

Open to the public. An engagement any person may attend on the host’s terms. An engagement that carries no mark is open to the public. The Court’s part is the passage, the seating and the day around it, not admission itself.

Interval, the.

The pause between the acts of an opera or a play, when the house empties and the table is kept. At a country opera the long interval is the dinner itself, laid on the lawn. The Box is judged partly by the ease of leaving at it.

Ladies’ Day.

The day of a meeting on which hats, and dress generally, are taken furthest, and on which the Court adds a hat to its usual dress. The name is older than most of the meetings that use it.

Level above, one.

The Court’s rule where a host publishes a code as a floor: it dresses one step above what is asked. A lounge suit is worn where smart casual is suggested, and a hat added where none is required. It is a courtesy to the host, not a correction of them.

Lounge suit.

A matched suit in a dark cloth, with a tie. For women, a tailored dress, or a suit with a skirt or trousers. The name survives from the nineteenth century, when the lounge suit was what a man wore anywhere he was not required to wear a frock coat.

Mansa.

A Mandinka title, meaning king or emperor, borne by the rulers of Mali. It is a title of stewardship rather than conquest: a mansa held the trade routes, the courts and the gold on behalf of those who lived along them.

Mantling.

The cloth falling from the helm, drawn slashed and ragged. It represents the sun-cloak worn over armour on crusade, and the tearing is meant to be read as damage taken in the field.

Meet, a.

The place and hour at which hounds and the mounted company gather before a day’s hunting. The Opening Meet begins the formal season, after which the riders change into formal hunting dress. The riders who gather are the field, in the narrower sense the Lexicon gives the Field. A meet is the gathering and the field is the company, and they are not the same thing.

Members’ area, the.

The private part of the Court’s site, where a member’s invitations arrive. The Secretary still sends each one. The members’ area is only the place it is received, as a hall table once received a letter.

Morning dress.

A morning coat with cutaway front, waistcoat, striped or grey trousers, and a top hat where the enclosure asks for one. For women, a day dress or tailored suit of modest length, with a hat on the same terms; in the Royal Enclosure at Ascot, a hat rather than a fascinator. It is daytime formal dress, worn before six and not after.

Not the Court’s own.

The words that open the Court’s paragraph on every engagement it does not host. What follows is always the same in form: what is sought on a member’s behalf, and that the Court arranges the day around it, getting there, where to stay, and the table afterwards. It marks the line between an engagement the Court gives and one it only attends. See also “Arranged by the Court”.

Orders and decorations.

The insignia of honours, worn with white tie by those entitled to them and by no one else. Those who hold none wear plain white tie and do not invent decorations to wear. Where an invitation asks for them, the request is precise and is followed exactly.

Paddock Club, the.

The hospitality rooms that Formula One keeps above the pits at a Grand Prix. Places in it are among the things the Court seeks on a member’s behalf. It has nothing to do with the paddock of the Turf, the ring where horses are walked before a race, and the two should not be confused in an entry.

Paddock, the.

The ring where horses are walked and mounted before a race. It is where form is read in the flesh rather than on paper, and the walk there decides more wagers than the card does.

Panama, a.

A hat of woven straw, light and pale, worn with a linen suit in summer and at the races. It is made in Ecuador and named for Panama, through which it was shipped and sold. Edward VII wore one to Goodwood in place of a morning coat, and the Court does the same. The linen suit and panama are not a code of their own: they are written as a note after lounge suit, “Lounge suit; linen, with a panama”.

Parlour, the.

A room kept for conversation, from the French parler, to speak. The Court’s Parlour Evenings keep the idea: a room open for the evening, with nothing scheduled in it.

Passage.

Entry to an engagement the Court does not host, sought on a member’s behalf. The word is older than the ticket and covers what a ticket does not: the badge, the invitation, the name at the door.

Proposer, a.

The member who puts a name before the Court. A proposal carries the weight of the member who makes it, and the name is reviewed as any other is.

Quadrille, a.

A dance for four couples set in a square, its figures called aloud. At the Vienna Opera Ball three are danced across the night, and missing a step is understood to be part of it.

Rampant.

A beast shown rearing on one hind foot, in profile, forelegs raised. It is the default attitude for a lion in heraldry, to the point that a lion described without an attitude is assumed to be rampant.

Regatta, a.

A series of boat races run over several days as one meeting. The word is Venetian, from the gondoliers’ contests on the Grand Canal, and it still carries the sense of an occasion rather than a single race.

Register, the.

The Court’s own record of its members, opened by its founders and kept by the Secretary. A name appears in any published edition of it only with that member’s consent.

Request, the.

The form by which a person asks to be considered for membership, sent from the Admission section of the site and ending with the words “Request an Invitation”. The name belongs to the form alone. An application asks to be considered; it is not an offer of a place. A place follows only after review and a meeting.

Royal Enclosure, the.

The enclosure at Royal Ascot nearest the Royal Procession, with the strictest dress at the meeting. Admission is by application, and a first application needs two sponsors who are already members of it. Morning dress is required there, and a hat rather than a fascinator. The Queen Anne Enclosure, beside it, asks for a suit and tie.

Season, the.

The year as the Court keeps it, January to December. The word is older than the Court: the London Season ran while Parliament sat and ended, by tradition, on the Glorious Twelfth, when society left town for the moors.

Secretary, the.

The officer who keeps the Register, sends the invitations, and answers correspondence. Where the Court is written to, it is the Secretary who reads it.

Shoot, the.

Shooting as the Court keeps it: the driven day, sporting clays and the shooting school. Instruction is given wherever it is wanted.

Sitting, a.

One of the divisions in which a company too large for one conversation is seated. The Court divides a company rather than lengthen the table, because conversation crosses a table of ten and dies at a table of twenty.

Smart casual.

A jacket without a tie, trousers rather than jeans, and shoes rather than trainers. For women, tailored trousers or a skirt, with a jacket or a fine knit, and shoes rather than trainers. Nothing with a logo on it. The Court uses the code only where a suit would be wrong: a tennis stadium in forty degrees, a golf course, a race that runs through the night. It is the Court’s version of casual rather than the world’s, and the difference is visible.

Sport.

What the Court keeps under no other heading: rugby, cycling, rowing, and the contests a city stops for. The word is used here for the sport itself rather than the ground it is played on.

Sporting clays.

Clay targets thrown to imitate live quarry, over a course of varied stations. It is practice made into a competition, and the layout changes so that no shooter can learn a course by rote.

Stakes race, a.

A race in which owners pay to enter and the entry fees are added to the prize. The name is literal: the stakes were the money put up, and the term long outlived the practice of putting it up in person.

Standing.

The footing on which a member holds a place. Membership is held, not owned, and standing is kept by attendance, by conduct, and by the company one brings. The Committee decides on it, and it is lost by the conduct the Terms set out.

Steeplechase, a.

A horse race over fences. The first is said to have been run in County Cork in 1752, on a wager, four miles across country from one church steeple to the next.

Supporters.

The figures standing either side of a shield and appearing to hold it up. In most heraldic traditions they are granted sparingly, which is why arms bearing them are read as a statement before the shield is read at all.

Table, the.

The Court’s own dinners and luncheons, laid as one long table rather than many small ones. A room of small tables is a restaurant; one table is a company.

Tennis whites.

White throughout, with trim in colour permitted only at some clubs and in some widths. The rule was written in the 1880s, when a visible sweat mark was thought improper, and white hid one better than colour did. It is enforced on the court rather than at the gate, and at the older clubs it is enforced absolutely.

The Court wears.

The form in which every engagement states the dress the Court itself wears, set beside whatever the host asks. Where the host publishes a code, the Court follows it; where the code is a floor, the Court dresses a level above it; where nothing is published, the Court dresses to the register of the occasion. The line names one of the eight codes, with any variant written as a note after it, as in “Lounge suit; linen, with a panama”.

To the register.

The Court’s rule where nothing is published: it dresses to the pitch of the place and the occasion, as a drawing room, a hunt country or a private house would expect. The word here is register in its older sense, the range and pitch of a voice or an instrument, and has nothing to do with the Register of members.

Tracht.

The traditional dress of the Alpine countries, dirndl for women and lederhosen or a loden coat for men. At Salzburg it is worn to Jedermann, as it has been since the 1920s, and the Court wears it there, of the real kind. It is not a costume when it is worn where it belongs. Tracht is not a code of its own and is written as a note after the code, as in “Country attire; Tracht is welcome”.

Turf, the.

Racing, flat and jump, spoken of as a single institution. The word covers the sport, its governance and the people who follow it, and it long predates the tracks now run on it.

Tweed.

Woollen cloth of the Scottish Borders, and the cloth of country attire. The Court wears it following hounds, on the moor and in the cold, with a tie. The name is usually said to come from a London merchant’s misreading of tweel, the Scots word for twill, helped by the River Tweed.

Vernissage, a.

The first sight of an exhibition before the public comes in. It takes its name from the varnishing days, when painters were let in to finish their pictures where they hung.

White tie.

A black tailcoat, white piqué waistcoat, white bow tie and starched wing collar. For women, a full-length evening gown, with long gloves if she wishes. It is the highest evening code and the least negotiable; where an invitation names it, nothing else is dress.

Withdrawal.

The word has two uses in the Court. A member’s withdrawal is word that a place accepted will not be taken. It is expected early, as an empty seat is one denied to another. The Court’s withdrawal of a membership is the Committee’s act where the Code has been broken. It is decided after the member has been written to and given fourteen days to reply, and it is not appealed.

Wreath.

The twisted band of two silks set between helm and crest, conventionally shown as six alternating twists. It hid the join where the crest was fixed to the helmet, and remained in the drawing after the join ceased to exist.

Yachting attire.

Soft soles, white or navy, and nothing that will blow away. The rule about soles is not a matter of taste; a black sole marks a deck and the owner will notice.