Ah, interesting, I didn't realise that (the biblical) Uriah was unaware of David's antics, but it might just be a misreporting of the story like with Lot/Moab. I think the biblical version is more likely than Dickens, seeing as all the other references are to Bible stories.

I agree too that it's 'shade' rather than 'shame'. But then I'm not sure what 'shade' means there.

Your interpretation of the weightlifting comment seems better than any I can come up with!