Zippypoppy

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Zippypoppy has posted five annotations/comments since 19 March 2017.

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Second Reading

About Wednesday 8 March 1664/65

Zippypoppy  •  Link

The London still lies in the Thames Estuary but the site has been well investigated and numerous items found by a team of local divers and archaeologists. Last November they made a presentation at the Institute of Historical Research here in London, which I attended, and a very good evening it was, too. To answer a couple of questions: the woman saved was the Captain's wife, on board only for a sightseeing trip; secondly, the artillery on board clearly hadn't yet been correctly stowed, so the gunpowder was all in one area, as were the gunners' ramrods etc. People at this time had something of a laissez-faire attitude towards gunpowder; an example of this is Robert Catesby (who masterminded the Gunpowder Plot in 1605), who found his powder damp, so put it beside the fire to dry out...
The loss of the London was a personal heavy blow for the two Stuart brothers and, indeed, for Pepys personally. She was built for the Commonwealth Navy, a 76-gun ship of the line, and when Charles II returned to claim his throne in 1660, the London was one of the ships sent to Holland to bring him home. James, Duke of York, sailed home on the London (Diary, 23 May 1660)

About Thursday 2 March 1664/65

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"Le roy le veult" is still in use as a long-standing Parliamentary procedure, to indicate the Sovereign's approval of an Act being passed. These days, of course, it is "La reine le veult". For anyone interested in how Charles was dressed, there's a short documentary (try BBCiplayer) about making a coat shown in a portrait of the King.

About Saturday 14 May 1664

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Joyce - Lisa Picard's "Restoration London" is as good as you'll get. There's also a newly-published "Time Traveller's Guide to Restoration Britain" by Ian Mortimer. I've not yet read this new book, which is the latest in his "Time Traveller" series. Both Ian and Lisa are well respected and prominent historians.

About Friday 18 March 1663/64

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On reflection, an addendum: this must have been made by a baker; the amounts and work involved would be too much for a domestic kitchen. Considering the high mortality rates, it was probably a fairly routine item.

About Friday 18 March 1663/64

Zippypoppy  •  Link

The biscuit mentioned is not really similar to a modern-day biscuit or cookie. It's always spelled "biskit" and is a flat, ie unleavened, preparation that was cooked either flat and sliced later, or spooned into patty tins. I have several recipes, including one for "Bisket Bread"; the common factor is that they all contain wheat flour, sugar, eggs and aromatic seeds, either aniseed or caraway, but no butter. Two recipes include rose-water and one includes sack (fortified wine). The mixture needed to be beaten for an hour, and the biskit cooked slowly so that the top wasn't coloured. I think they were quite small in size.