About Sunday 26 July 1663

Seething Phoenix on 10 Aug 2023  •  Link

L&M footnote cites Sir J Mennes's poem 'To a friend upon a journey to Epsam Well' from Musarum Deliciae (1656) as a "ribald commentary" on the purgative properties of the well. I've found the original poem here: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo…

It makes for quite an entertaining read and I think leaves no room for doubt as to what Sam meant by "everybody turning up their tails"!

About Tuesday 23 July 1661

Seething Phoenix on 1 Aug 2021  •  Link

One of the few institutions that still recognises formal mourning is The Royal Household - members of The Royal Family and courtiers must wear sombre colours for a set period after a death in the family. Interestingly, it would be frowned upon for those in mourning to attend social functions, such as sports matches or indeed the theatre - so I find it curious that Sam does exactly that, although I recognise mourning was likely observed differently to today’s standards.

About Tuesday 11 December 1660

Seething Phoenix on 13 Dec 2020  •  Link

Regarding sailors and swimming, I read recently that it was considered bad luck for sailors to know how to swim, and also the shock of colder water could be enough to stop the heart (although interestingly the river is at it's coldest in April, not December) so hypothermia would also have taken those sailors who might have known something of the sport. Not to mention the Thames at the time would have been murky and filled with rubbish - shallow maybe, but not optimal for survival!