MONDAY, OCTOBER 13
It was chilly last night. I'm glad the plants are indoors, even if the cats have already made a disaster of them. Tomorrow I go with the parents to Alamo for eye exams. I need to get to the bottom of my mother's dry macular degeneration. The other day I discovered how to download movies into my Ipod. I know, I'm behind the curve, but at least I'm learning. So far I have The Philadelphia Story, Tombstone, Wyatt Earp, Six Days Seven Nights, and Much Ado About Nothing. Tomorrow they will be joined by Indiana Jones.
Jules Crittenden has a list of the great plagues of modern civilization.
1960's The Population Bomb
1970's The End of Oil
1970s' The New Ice age
1980's AIDS
1990's Mad Cow Disease
1990's Global Warming
2000's Terrorism
2000's Bird Flu
2000's Credit Crunch
Prostitutes have not suffered during the economic downturn!
New Lizzie Borden museum display
Ringo says no more fan mail.
Siberian bigfoot tracks
With footprint photos
A new thunderbird report
THE CHAMBERS BOOK OF DAYS
Born: Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VI, 1453, Windsor; Sophia, Electress of Hanover, mother of George I, 1630, Mayence; Maurice, Marshal Saxe, eminent general, 1696, Dresden; Ferdinand VII, king of Spain, 1784.
Died: Claudius, Roman emperor, poisoned, 54 A D; Pope Gregory XII, 1417; Pope Pius III, 1503; Theodore Beza, eminent reformer, 1605, Geneva; Thomas Harrison, parliamentary general, executed, 1660; Dr. John Gill, eminent Baptist divine, 1771, Southwark; Joachim Murat, Bonapartist king of Naples, shot, 1815; Antonio Canova, celebrated sculptor, 1822, Venice; Mrs. Elizabeth Fry, philanthropist, 1845, Ramsgate.
Feast Day: Saints Faustus, Januarius, and Martialis, martyrs, 304. St. Gerald, Count of Aurillac or Orillac, confessor, 909. St. Colman, martyr, 1012. Translation of the relics of St. Edward the Confessor. Seven Friar Minors, martyrs in Morocco, 1220.
NOTES FROM AUBREY: ON ENGLISH MANNERS IN OLD TIMESDied: Claudius, Roman emperor, poisoned, 54 A D; Pope Gregory XII, 1417; Pope Pius III, 1503; Theodore Beza, eminent reformer, 1605, Geneva; Thomas Harrison, parliamentary general, executed, 1660; Dr. John Gill, eminent Baptist divine, 1771, Southwark; Joachim Murat, Bonapartist king of Naples, shot, 1815; Antonio Canova, celebrated sculptor, 1822, Venice; Mrs. Elizabeth Fry, philanthropist, 1845, Ramsgate.
Feast Day: Saints Faustus, Januarius, and Martialis, martyrs, 304. St. Gerald, Count of Aurillac or Orillac, confessor, 909. St. Colman, martyr, 1012. Translation of the relics of St. Edward the Confessor. Seven Friar Minors, martyrs in Morocco, 1220.
John Aubrey was an English gentleman scholar who flourished in the latter half of the seventeenth century, and made many curious collections in history and antiquities. From some papers drawn up by him about the year 1678, and which are preserved in the Ashmole Museum, the following notes are condensed by an eminent historical student H. T. Riley who has obligingly communicated them to the editor of the Book of Days.
'There were very few free schools in England before the Reformation. Youths were generally taught Latin in the monasteries, and young women had their education, not at Hackney, as now (1678 A. D.), but at nunneries, where they learned needle work, confectionary, surgery, physic, writing, drawing, &c. Anciently, before the Reformation, ordinary men's houses had no chimneys, but flues like louvre holes. In the halls and parlours of great houses were written texts of Scripture, on painted cloths.
'Before the late civil wars, at Christmas, the first dish that was brought to table was a boar's head, with a lemon in his mouth. At Queen's College, in Oxford, they still retain this custom; the bearer of it brings it into the hall, singing to an old tune an old Latin rhyme Caput apri defero, &c. {The boar's head in bring I] The first dish that was brought to table on Easterday, was a red herring riding away on horseback i. e., a herring arranged by the cook, something after the manner of a man on horseback, set in a corn salad. The custom of eating a gammon of bacon at Easter was this—namely, to shew their abhorrence of Judaism at that solemn commemoration of our Lord's resurrection.
'The use of "Your humble servant," came first into England on the marriage of Queen Mary, daughter of Henry IV of France to King Charles I. The usual salutation before that time was, "God keep you!" "God be with you!" and, among the vulgar, "How dost do?" with a thump on the shoulder. Until this time, the court itself was unpolished and unmannered. King James's court was so far from being civil to women, that the ladies, nay, the queen herself, could hardly pass by the king's apartment without receiving some affront.
In days of yore, lords and gentlemen lived in the country like petty kings: had their castles and their boroughs, and gallows within their liberties, where they could try, condemn, and execute. They never went to London but in parliament time, or once a year, to do their homage to their king. They always ate in Gothic halls, at the high table or oriel (a little room at the upper end of the hall, where stands a table), with the folks at the side tables. The meat was served up by watchwords. Jacks are but of late invention; the poor boys did turn the spits, and licked the dripping for their pains. The beds of the men-servants and retainers were in the hall, as now in the grand or privy chamber. The hearth was commonly in the middle, whence the saying, "Round about our coal-fire."
The halls of the justices of the peace were dreadful to behold; the screen was garnished with corslets and helmets gaping with open mouths, with coats of mail, lances, pikes, halberts, brown-bills, and bucklers. Public inns were rare. Travellers were entertained at religious houses for three days together, if occasion served. The meetings of the gentry were not at taverns, but in the fields or forests, with hawks and hounds, and their bugle-horns in silken baldrics.
'In the last age, every gentleman like man kept a sparrow hawk, and a priest kept a bobby, as Dame Julian Berners teaches us (who wrote a treatise on field sports, temp. Henry VI); it was also a diversion for young gentlewomen to man sparrow hawks and merlins.
'Before the Reformation, there were no poor rates; the charitable doles given at religious houses, and the church ale in every parish, did the business. In every parish there was a church house, to which belonged spits, pots, crocks, &c., for dressing provisions. Here the housekeepers met and were merry, and gave their charity. The young people came there too, and had dancing, bowling, and shooting at butts. Mr. Antony Wood assures me, there were few or no alms houses before the time of King Henry VIII; that at Oxford, opposite Christ Church, is one of the most ancient in England. In every church was a poor man's box, and the like at great inns.
'Before the wake, or feast of the dedication of the church, they sat up all night fasting and praying that is to say, on the eve of the wake. In the Easter holidays was the clerk's "ale," for his private benefit and the solace of the neighborhood.
Glass windows, except in churches and gentlemen's houses, were rare before the time of Henry VIII. In my own remembrance, before the civil wars, copyholders and poor people had none in Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, and Salop: it is so still (1678 A. D.).
'About ninety years ago, noblemen's and gentle men's coats were like those of the bedels and yeomen of the guards i. e., gathered at the middle.
'Captain Silas Taylor says, that in days of yore, when a church was to be built, they watched and prayed on the vigil of the dedication, and took that point of the horizon where the sun arose, for the east, which makes the variation that so few stand true, except those built between the two equinoxes. I have experimented with some churches, and have found the line to point to that part of the horizon where the sun rises on the day of that saint to whom the church is dedicated.
In Scotland, especially among the Highlanders, the women make a courtesy to the new moon; and our English women, in this country, have a touch of this, some of them sitting astride on a gate or stile the first evening the new moon appears, and saying, "A fine moon, God bless her!" The like I observed in Herefordshire.
'From the time of Erasmus [temp. Henry VIII] till about twenty years last past, the learning was downright pedantry. The conversation and habits of those times were as starched as their bands and square beards, and gravity was then taken for wisdom. The gentry and citizens had little learning of any kind, and their way of breeding up their children was suitable to the rest. They were as severe to their children as their schoolmasters, and their schoolmasters as masters of the house of correction. Gentlemen of thirty and forty years old were to stand, like mutes and fools, bareheaded before their parents; and the daughters grown women were to stand at the cupboard side during the whole time of the proud mother's visit, unless leave was desired, forsooth, that a cushion should be given them to kneel upon, brought them by the serving man, after they had done sufficient penance in standing. The boys had their foreheads turned up and stiffened with spittle. The gentlewomen had prodigious fans, as is to be seen in old pictures; and it had a handle at least half a yard. long: with these the daughters were oftentimes corrected. Sir Edward Coke, Lord Chief Justice, rode the circuit with such a fan; Sir William Dugdale told me he was an eye witness of it; the Earl of Manchester also used such a fan.
'At Oxford (and, I believe, at Cambridge) the rod was frequently used by the tutors and deans; and Dr. Potter, of Trinity College, I know right well, whipped his pupil with his sword by his side, when he came to take his leave of him to go to the Inns of Court.'
'There were very few free schools in England before the Reformation. Youths were generally taught Latin in the monasteries, and young women had their education, not at Hackney, as now (1678 A. D.), but at nunneries, where they learned needle work, confectionary, surgery, physic, writing, drawing, &c. Anciently, before the Reformation, ordinary men's houses had no chimneys, but flues like louvre holes. In the halls and parlours of great houses were written texts of Scripture, on painted cloths.
'Before the late civil wars, at Christmas, the first dish that was brought to table was a boar's head, with a lemon in his mouth. At Queen's College, in Oxford, they still retain this custom; the bearer of it brings it into the hall, singing to an old tune an old Latin rhyme Caput apri defero, &c. {The boar's head in bring I] The first dish that was brought to table on Easterday, was a red herring riding away on horseback i. e., a herring arranged by the cook, something after the manner of a man on horseback, set in a corn salad. The custom of eating a gammon of bacon at Easter was this—namely, to shew their abhorrence of Judaism at that solemn commemoration of our Lord's resurrection.
'The use of "Your humble servant," came first into England on the marriage of Queen Mary, daughter of Henry IV of France to King Charles I. The usual salutation before that time was, "God keep you!" "God be with you!" and, among the vulgar, "How dost do?" with a thump on the shoulder. Until this time, the court itself was unpolished and unmannered. King James's court was so far from being civil to women, that the ladies, nay, the queen herself, could hardly pass by the king's apartment without receiving some affront.
In days of yore, lords and gentlemen lived in the country like petty kings: had their castles and their boroughs, and gallows within their liberties, where they could try, condemn, and execute. They never went to London but in parliament time, or once a year, to do their homage to their king. They always ate in Gothic halls, at the high table or oriel (a little room at the upper end of the hall, where stands a table), with the folks at the side tables. The meat was served up by watchwords. Jacks are but of late invention; the poor boys did turn the spits, and licked the dripping for their pains. The beds of the men-servants and retainers were in the hall, as now in the grand or privy chamber. The hearth was commonly in the middle, whence the saying, "Round about our coal-fire."
The halls of the justices of the peace were dreadful to behold; the screen was garnished with corslets and helmets gaping with open mouths, with coats of mail, lances, pikes, halberts, brown-bills, and bucklers. Public inns were rare. Travellers were entertained at religious houses for three days together, if occasion served. The meetings of the gentry were not at taverns, but in the fields or forests, with hawks and hounds, and their bugle-horns in silken baldrics.
'In the last age, every gentleman like man kept a sparrow hawk, and a priest kept a bobby, as Dame Julian Berners teaches us (who wrote a treatise on field sports, temp. Henry VI); it was also a diversion for young gentlewomen to man sparrow hawks and merlins.
'Before the Reformation, there were no poor rates; the charitable doles given at religious houses, and the church ale in every parish, did the business. In every parish there was a church house, to which belonged spits, pots, crocks, &c., for dressing provisions. Here the housekeepers met and were merry, and gave their charity. The young people came there too, and had dancing, bowling, and shooting at butts. Mr. Antony Wood assures me, there were few or no alms houses before the time of King Henry VIII; that at Oxford, opposite Christ Church, is one of the most ancient in England. In every church was a poor man's box, and the like at great inns.
'Before the wake, or feast of the dedication of the church, they sat up all night fasting and praying that is to say, on the eve of the wake. In the Easter holidays was the clerk's "ale," for his private benefit and the solace of the neighborhood.
Glass windows, except in churches and gentlemen's houses, were rare before the time of Henry VIII. In my own remembrance, before the civil wars, copyholders and poor people had none in Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, and Salop: it is so still (1678 A. D.).
'About ninety years ago, noblemen's and gentle men's coats were like those of the bedels and yeomen of the guards i. e., gathered at the middle.
'Captain Silas Taylor says, that in days of yore, when a church was to be built, they watched and prayed on the vigil of the dedication, and took that point of the horizon where the sun arose, for the east, which makes the variation that so few stand true, except those built between the two equinoxes. I have experimented with some churches, and have found the line to point to that part of the horizon where the sun rises on the day of that saint to whom the church is dedicated.
In Scotland, especially among the Highlanders, the women make a courtesy to the new moon; and our English women, in this country, have a touch of this, some of them sitting astride on a gate or stile the first evening the new moon appears, and saying, "A fine moon, God bless her!" The like I observed in Herefordshire.
'From the time of Erasmus [temp. Henry VIII] till about twenty years last past, the learning was downright pedantry. The conversation and habits of those times were as starched as their bands and square beards, and gravity was then taken for wisdom. The gentry and citizens had little learning of any kind, and their way of breeding up their children was suitable to the rest. They were as severe to their children as their schoolmasters, and their schoolmasters as masters of the house of correction. Gentlemen of thirty and forty years old were to stand, like mutes and fools, bareheaded before their parents; and the daughters grown women were to stand at the cupboard side during the whole time of the proud mother's visit, unless leave was desired, forsooth, that a cushion should be given them to kneel upon, brought them by the serving man, after they had done sufficient penance in standing. The boys had their foreheads turned up and stiffened with spittle. The gentlewomen had prodigious fans, as is to be seen in old pictures; and it had a handle at least half a yard. long: with these the daughters were oftentimes corrected. Sir Edward Coke, Lord Chief Justice, rode the circuit with such a fan; Sir William Dugdale told me he was an eye witness of it; the Earl of Manchester also used such a fan.
'At Oxford (and, I believe, at Cambridge) the rod was frequently used by the tutors and deans; and Dr. Potter, of Trinity College, I know right well, whipped his pupil with his sword by his side, when he came to take his leave of him to go to the Inns of Court.'
Dime con quien andas y te digo quien eres.
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