Ruth Goodman the historian, who has experimented in living for short periods as they did in other historical periods, says that not smelling bad was very important (in Tudor times, so I imagine In the 17th century too) as the link between bad smells and illness was clear. Outer clothes were not washed, but under linen might have been more often. Not every day though. The idea was to wash hands and face and to rub down with linen cloth rather than bathing. She has found that washing the body in the modern way with soap but not changing linen leads to a horrible smell, but not washing but changing linen more regularly leads to no noticeable smell other than woodsmoke (in the context of a Tudor farm). Also, returning to the modern world, she found the smell of modern synthetic perfumes in soap and shampoo etc stuck unpleasantly in her throat. Although the very poor and struggling might have smelt much worse than today, on the whole people don’t smell better today - just different.
“A woman, a spaniel and a walnut tree, the more you beat them the better still they be” I’m pretty sure that proverb was quoted fairly often in Sam’s time as wisdom - horrific to imagine now. I wonder what Sam would make of our lives today?
I found the link below with fascinating information on the kind of fireworks which SP might have seen this night, from a book called Mathematical Recreations by Jean Leurechon, and translated into English in 1653: https://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.go…
“Great rattling of guns” I know exactly how Sam felt, as I live near Valencia in Spain, and fiestas here are celebrated with a mascletá, which is a deafening 8 minute display of pyrotechnics around midday which seems to punch all around inside your chest and rib cage and which fills your nostrils with the gunpowder smoke. Afterwards you feel alive, buzzing and sort of cleaned out. Reading his account, I felt I had been with him on board.
Comments
Second Reading
About Wednesday 16 January 1660/61
Michaela • Link
Ruth Goodman the historian, who has experimented in living for short periods as they did in other historical periods, says that not smelling bad was very important (in Tudor times, so I imagine In the 17th century too) as the link between bad smells and illness was clear. Outer clothes were not washed, but under linen might have been more often. Not every day though. The idea was to wash hands and face and to rub down with linen cloth rather than bathing.
She has found that washing the body in the modern way with soap but not changing linen leads to a horrible smell, but not washing but changing linen more regularly leads to no noticeable smell other than woodsmoke (in the context of a Tudor farm). Also, returning to the modern world, she found the smell of modern synthetic perfumes in soap and shampoo etc stuck unpleasantly in her throat. Although the very poor and struggling might have smelt much worse than today, on the whole people don’t smell better today - just different.
About Friday 11 January 1660/61
Michaela • Link
“A woman, a spaniel and a walnut tree, the more you beat them the better still they be”
I’m pretty sure that proverb was quoted fairly often in Sam’s time as wisdom - horrific to imagine now. I wonder what Sam would make of our lives today?
About Monday 5 November 1660
Michaela • Link
I found the link below with fascinating information on the kind of fireworks which SP might have seen this night, from a book called Mathematical Recreations by Jean Leurechon, and translated into English in 1653:
https://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.go…
About Monday 9 April 1660
Michaela • Link
“Great rattling of guns”
I know exactly how Sam felt, as I live near Valencia in Spain, and fiestas here are celebrated with a mascletá, which is a deafening 8 minute display of pyrotechnics around midday which seems to punch all around inside your chest and rib cage and which fills your nostrils with the gunpowder smoke. Afterwards you feel alive, buzzing and sort of cleaned out. Reading his account, I felt I had been with him on board.