Excelsior

Excelsior may refer to:

Publications

Literature and Poetry

Science fiction

Journals and newspapers

Music and the performing arts

Motto and catchphrase

Coat of arms of New York

The coat of arms of the state of New York was formally adopted in 1778, and appears as a component of the state's flag and seal.

The shield displays a masted ship and a sloop on the Hudson River (symbols of inland and foreign commerce), bordered by a grassy shore and a mountain range in the background with the sun rising behind it. The unheraldic nature of the Hudson River landscape reveals the modern origin of the design.

The shield has two supporters:

A banner below the shield shows the motto Excelsior, a Latin word meaning "higher", "superior", "lordly", commonly translated as "Ever Upward."

The shield is surmounted by a crest consisting of an eagle surmounting a world globe.

Excelsior (short story)

"Excelsior" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the U.K. edition of Argosy magazine on July 1, 1948 under the title "The Hazards of Horace Bewstridge", and was later included in the collection Nothing Serious (1951). It is one of Wodehouse's many golf stories, told by the Oldest Member.

The story displays Wodehouse's excellent use of language and humor. It begins with the Oldest Member discussing people who lack the proper golfing spirit ("I have known Bream to concede a hole for the almost frivolous reason that he had sliced his ball into a hornet's nest and was unwilling to play it from where it lay"). He mentions a fine example of a devoted golfer, Horace Bewstridge, and proceeds to tell the man's story.

Plot

Bewstridge was in love with a woman named Vera Witherby, the niece of Ponsford Botts. Before proposing marriage, however, he intended to acquaint himself with her family, to ensure a good reception. (The Oldest Member began the story with himself finding Bewstridge's list of how to pander to each one of the Bottses: Laugh at Ponsford Botts' Pat and Mike jokes, talk about the pixies and flowers in Mrs. Botts' books, praise the girl of Irwin Botts' affections, etc.)