San Diego Sarah

Annotations and comments

San Diego Sarah has posted 8,791 annotations/comments since 6 August 2015.

The most recent first…

Comments

Third Reading

About Friday 3 May 1661

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

The Rev. Ralph tells us today that not everyone appreciated the grandure of Charles II's coronation (see the original for the layout which leaves me puzzled, and doesn't copy accurately here):

Diary of Ralph Josselin (Private Collection)
3.5.1661 (Friday 3 May 1661)
document 70013055

May. 3. rode into London and saw the triumphal arches. stately. vanity, no rich cost in the front of one besides Heathenism. there is this troubled me,

a statue of K. James -- in the middle above -- of K. Charles
prominent, a death
Divo Jacobo -- statue of Charles -- Divo Carolo
Imperium sine fine dedi.

divers sad particulars on the face of the arch. the High motto being En quodiscordia cives. etc. on the side of Charles. there was an effigy of stakes and faggots to burn people of the Heads of the regicides on poles. and warlike Instruments broken.

I had sad reflections on the vain flattery, the lord prevent villainous wickedness, but if surely it will not be sine fine.

reported the Portugal princess will become protestant and go to Chapel with the King: a Spaniard protestant.

@@@

"a Spaniard protestant." -- Portugal had been free of Spanish rule for about 30 years; I guess he was being ironic?

About Barbara Palmer (Countess of Castlemaine)

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

A new biography by Andrea Zuvich will be published in the fall of 2024 -- you can preorder at
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1526769…

"Barbara Villiers was a woman so beautiful, so magnetic and so sexually attractive that she captured the hearts of many in Stuart-era Britain. Her beauty is legendary: she became the muse of artists such as Peter Lely, the inspiration of writers such as John Dryden and the lover of John Churchill, the future great military leader whom we also know as the 1st Duke of Marlborough. Her greatest amorous conquest was Charles II, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, with whom she had a tempestuous and passionate relationship for the better part of a decade.

"But this loveliest of Stuart-era ladies had a dark side. She hurt and humiliated her husband, Roger Palmer, for decades with her unashamedly adulterous lifestyle, she plotted the ruin of her enemies, constantly gambled away vast sums of money, is remembered for the destruction of the Tudor-era Nonsuch Palace, and was known to unleash terrible rages when crossed. Crassly lampooned by John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, and subjected to verbal and written assaults, she was physically abused by a later, violent spouse.

"Barbara lived through some of the most turbulent times in British history: civil war, the Great Plague of London, which saw the deaths of around 100,000 people, the Great Fire of London, which destroyed much of the medieval city, and foreign conflicts such as the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the Williamite wars, and the War of the Spanish Succession.

"An impoverished aristocrat who rose to become a wealthy countess and then a duchess, taking her lovers from all walks of life, Barbara laughed at the morals of her time and used her natural talents and her ruthless determination to the material benefit of herself and her numerous offspring.

"In great stately homes and castles such as Hampton Court Palace, her portraits are widely seen and appreciated today. She had an insatiable appetite for life, love, riches, amusement, and power. She was simply ‘ravenous’ …"

About Monday 29 April 1661

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

LKvM and Neville -- I have to assume you both missed the bit in the Encyclopedia which speculates:
"This gentleman might probably be a relation of the celebrated General Lambert's, and, possibly, be treated coldly in the service on that ground. This is only given as a conjectural reason for his having continued for such a number of years unemployed." -- Biographia navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

I agree it must have been frustrating for Lt. Lambert as he clearly was in the Sandwich circle, and must have expected to be given recognition based on his proven ability, not that of his uncle's.
Possibly this is an early example of The Lord High Admiral James over-ruling his most senior admiral, signalling that Royalists be given the plumb jobs, not Commonwealth men.

About Thursday 12 February 1662/63

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Ancient Mesopotamians were the first to produce a kind of soap by cooking fatty acids – like the fat rendered from a slaughtered cow, sheep or goat – together with water and an alkaline like lye, a caustic substance derived from wood ashes. The result was a greasy and smelly goop that lifted away dirt.

An early mention of soap comes in Roman scholar Pliny the Elder’s book “Naturalis Historia” from A.D. 77. He described soap as a pomade made of tallow – typically derived from beef fat – and ashes that the Gauls applied to their hair to give it “a reddish tint.”

Ancient people used these early soaps to clean wool or cotton fibers before weaving them into cloth, rather than for human hygiene. Not even the Greeks and Romans, who pioneered running water and public baths, used soap to clean their bodies. Instead, men and women immersed themselves in water baths and then smeared their bodies with scented olive oils. They used a metal or reed scraper called a strigil to remove any remaining oil or grime.

By the Middle Ages, new vegetable-oil-based soaps, which were hailed for their mildness and purity and smelled good, had come into use as luxury items among Europe’s most privileged classes. The first of these, Aleppo soap, a green, olive-oil-based bar soap infused with aromatic laurel oil, was produced in Syria and brought to Europe by Christian crusaders and traders.

French, Italian, Spanish and eventually English versions soon followed. Of these, Jabon de Castilla, or Castile soap, named for the region of central Spain where it was produced, was the best known. The white, olive-oil-based bar soap was a wildly popular toiletry item among European royals. Castile soap became a generic term for any hard soap of this type.

The settlement of the American colonies coincided with an age (1500s-1700s) when most Europeans, whether privileged or poor, had turned away from regular bathing out of fear that water spread disease.

Colonists used soap primarily for domestic cleaning, and soap-making was part of the seasonal domestic routine overseen by women.
As one Connecticut woman described it in 1775, women stored fat from butchering, grease from cooking and wood ashes over the winter months. In the spring, they made lye from the ashes and then boiled it with fat and grease in a giant kettle. This produced a soft soap that women used to wash the linen shifts that colonists wore as undergarments.

In the new nation, the founding of soap manufactories like New York-based Colgate, founded in 1807, or the Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble, founded in 1837, increased the scale of soap production but did little to alter its ingredients or use. Middle-class Americans had resumed water bathing, but still shunned soap.
Soap-making remained an extension of the tallow trade that was closely allied with candle making. Soap was for laundry. ...

FROM https://theconversation.com/the-d…

About John Playford

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Gresham College has a fine archive of their past lectures.
One I found concerns "Early Science: Music from the Samuel Pepys Collection".

At the start the point is made that 17th century people considered music as a "science", and its close relationship to mathematics is well documented.

Enjoy!
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-n….

About Friday 29 May 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Art isn't always the truth.

For instance, on the UK Parliament website is a page
"Coronation Procession of Charles II
"This is a ‘circumstantial account' of Charles II' s 1661 coronation, published in 1820. The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, John Ayton, is pictured alongside the Lord Mayor of London and the Lord Great Chamberlain. They are part of a great procession that included the King and Queen, the King's herb woman, and the gentleman and lady of the bedchamber, as well as various Dukes and Viscounts. Charles II was the last sovereign to make the traditional procession from the Tower of London to Westminster Abbey the day before the coronation.

"Title: A Circumstantial Account of the Preparations for the Coronation of Charles II, by Sir Edward Walker
"Catalogue number: Parliamentary Archives, LGC/8/1/2"

WAIT, I said to myself, there was no Queen in Charles II's procession. The House of Commons website has it wrong.

Today I got the following explanation:

"Dear Sally,

"Thank you very much for writing to us. Once you have read our response, please let us know how we did by completing our short survey: http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/XT…

"I have contacted colleagues in the Parliamentary Archives for advice regarding the text on the “Coronation Procession of Charles II” at this link:
https://www.parliament.uk/about/l…

"They have confirmed that the text is a caption is describing the object, and in particular the people that are portrayed in the print, not the event itself or the attendees. The King and Queen are pictured in the print.

"I hope this is helpful.

"Yours sincerely,

"Ciara
"House of Commons Enquiry Service"

About Wednesday 11 June 1662

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

CONCLUSION:

I smeared the ink on many of my early efforts by trying to move or stack the paper too soon. Blotting paper was (and still is) a popular way of preventing ink from smearing, but my attempts to use a clean piece of paper on top of my iron gall ink still resulted in smudges.
I had good luck with a technique that predates blotting paper: sand.
I used sterile terrarium sand from the craft store and sprinkled it over my still-wet ink. The sand absorbed the wet ink in a matter of minutes and, once I shook off the sand, my quill ink writing was dry and (relatively) smudge-free. (More than I can say for my hands and shirtsleeves.)

Successfully writing with a quill pen took more practice and patience than I expected. Once I got the hang of it, there was something soothing about the rhythm of the old-fashioned process.

Excerpted from https://historyfacts.com/science-…

About Wednesday 11 June 1662

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"You had to know how to make a quill from a goose feather, mix ink ..."

A traditional quill pen consists of a feather that has been trimmed to around 9 ins. long, had its shaft stripped of barbs, and had the inside and outside of the hollow barrel cleaned of membrane and wax. The quill is then dried, typically by curing it in sand, and the tip is shaped into a nib with a channel split (cut) to hold the ink.

The earliest fluid inks were carbon-based black inks twhich probably originated in China around 2700 BCE. Iron gallotannate (iron gall) ink eventually replaced carbon and became the primary ink used with quill pens from the Middle Ages until the beginning of the 20th century. Iron gall ink is a permanent, deep purple-black or blue-black ink that darkens as it oxidizes, and is made from iron salts and gallotannic acids from organic sources (such as trees and vegetables).

[The author] was eager to start writing once I acquired my pen and ink, but I hadn’t considered what type of paper to use. Watercolor paper was too absorbent, printer paper and a coated writing tablet weren’t absorbent enough (although the pen glided across both beautifully), but a good-quality sketchbook offered the right amount of absorbency.

At first I dipped the pen in the jar of ink and then removed the excess by rubbing the barrel of the feather along the rim of the ink jar. This didn’t remove enough ink to prevent drips, so I used a paper towel to blot the excess. Once that was done, using the quill pen was no different from using my favorite metal-tipped ink pen. I held the quill the same way and applied about the same amount of pressure to the paper to write.

Once I found the right paper, I practiced loading the tip with ink and writing the alphabet and short sentences. This was challenging because using a quill pen requires frequently dipping the pen tip back into the jar for more ink, which affected the quality and consistency of the letters. In trying to finish a word or sentence before replenishing the ink, I would find myself pressing too hard on the quill tip, which quickly dulled the point and resulted in me cracking my first pen.

With only one quill remaining, I sought the advice of more experienced quill users. They recommend using a felt cushion underneath the writing paper to preserve the quill’s point; I didn’t have any felt, so I used an old linen napkin. I expected it to be more difficult to write with a soft backing rather than a solid tabletop, but I was amazed at how much easier and smoother it was to write. And I didn’t crack my pen!

About Godalming

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

There is a 14th century inn in Godalming, the King's Arms and Royal Hotel:
"There has been a building on our site since the 1300s although
the first mention of the Kings itself is not until 1639. It wasn’t until
1936 that the Kings left private ownership and was bought by the
Friary Brewery of Guildford which later became part of Allied Breweries.
The Georgian frontage was added in 1753 although the size of the
building was reduced in the 1890s when a decline in trade resulted
in part of the front being turned into a shop.
"We’ve had a few famous guests over the years including Tsar Peter
the Great (who left without paying his bill!) as well as some European
“royalty” who met here in 1814 to discuss post war Europe after
the Battle of Trafalgar. Tsar Peter the Great’s visit is commemorated
by a plaque on the front of the building which was unveiled in 1998
by the Russian Ambassador to commemorate the tricentenary of
the visit."
https://kingsarmsandroyal.co.uk/t…

The artwork shows Peter the Great's dinner and breakfast menus -- all liquor and meat, until you see the last line which mentions salad.

About Water

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

More on the New River:

The design and construction of the New River is often attributed solely to Sir Hugh Myddelton. In 1602, Edmund Colthurst first proposed digging an artificial waterway to supply London from Chadwell and Amwell springs near Ware in Hertfordshire, and obtained a charter from King James I in 1604 to carry it out. However, much of the water was obtained from streams tapped along its route, including the Hackney Brook.

After surveying the route and digging the first 2-mile stretch, Colthurst encountered financial difficulties and it fell to Myddelton to complete the work between 1609 and its official opening on 29 September, 1613.

The project was rescued by the King, whose house and lands at Theobalds Park were crossed by the river. James took half of the shares in 1612 for a half of the profits.

The expense and engineering challenges of the project — it relied on gravity to allow the water to flow, carefully following the contours of the terrain from Ware into London, and dropping around 5 inches per mile — were not Myddelton's only worries. He also faced opposition from landowners who feared that the New River would reduce the value of their farmland (they argued that floods or overflowing might create quagmires that could trap livestock); others were concerned at the possible disruption to road transport networks between Hertfordshire and the capital. The project nearly foundered when a few landowners flatly refused to agree to allow the river across their land.

When it was originally constructed, long sections, for example around Forty Hall and in Hornsey, wound around the heads of small tributary valleys of the Lea.

Other sections of the river, including the one in Harringay, were carried across valleys in wooden aqueducts lined with lead and supported by strong timbers and brick piers.
In at least one section the locals referred to the river as "the boarded river".

Improvements in canal construction in the 18th century led to these sections being replaced by clay-banked canals.

In 1620, the New River Company found the springs were not sufficient to supply their customers, and dug a half-mile extension to feed the New River from the nearby River Lea to supplement the water from the springs. A mechanical gauge regulates the amount taken.

On 9 January, 1622, King James rode from Theobalds after dinner to see the ice on the New River and fell in head first so that his companions could only see his boots. He was rescued by Sir Richard Young and returned to a warm bed at Theobalds.

Originally the New River's course was above ground throughout, but in the second half of the 19th century some sections were put underground, enabling the course to be straightened.
FROM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New…

About Leatherhead

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

PART 5

The communion plate comprises a large cup of 1661, large flagon of 1704, ... besides these are f4 pewter plates, two of which are dated 1711.

In the first book of the registers the baptisms begin regularly in 1656, but there are individual entries in the years 1626, 1647, and 1649; they continue to 1793; the marriages date from 1626 to 1753, and the burials 1626 to 1794; the book is of paper. ...

ALL SAINTS' church is a medium-sized, modern building of flint and stone in the style of the 13th century, consisting of a chancel, nave, south chapel and aisle, vestry, and north porch. Over the chancel arch is a wooden bell-turret with one bell; the inside of the building is lined with red brick.

The church of Letherhead, at the time of the Domesday Survey, was appurtenant to the manor of Ewell, and, together with 40 acres of land, was held by Osbern de Ow. It later became the property of the abbey of Colchester, to whom it was granted by Eustace de Broc. ... Henry VIII then gave the rectory and church and advowson of the vicarage of Letherhead to the Dean and Chapter of Rochester, who are the present patrons.

Besides their advowson, the Prior and convent of Leeds owned land in Letherhead. Edward III granted them free warren, which shows they had a considerable estate. The prior held, as glebe land, fields and crofts named Morescroft, Bunteynesland, and Necrofts in Letherhead.

In 1608 John Skeet left £140 to buy land to provide bread for the poor.

In 1642 Charles, Earl of Nottingham, left £50 to the poor. It was not paid till 1679, when the parish added £20 and bought a house for an almshouse. In 1725 it was let for 15s. a year for the use of the poor. ...

In 1692 Edward Hudson left £3 a year to the trustees of Skeet's Charity to provide beef for the poor at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, and £1 to the vicar and parish clerk for saying evening prayer on the eve of those festivals. ...

HIGHLIGHTS FROM https://www.british-history.ac.uk…

Wikipedia tells us:
Notable residents include
Sir Thomas Bloodworth (1620–1682), Lord Mayor of London during the Great Fire of 1666, lived at Thorncroft Manor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lea…

Yes, Leatherhead probably doesn't deserve so much attention, but my early years were spent nearby, so indulge me! I'm disappointed such an old, wealthy, little town has produced so few famous people and so little historical action - SDS

About Leatherhead

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

PART 4

MYNCHIN. — In 1195 Ailric of Leddrede obtained half a hide of land in Letherhead against his brother Baldwin. ... The Apperdele family held land in Letherhead at the end of the reign of Henry III when Henry de Apperdele claimed against William de Apperdele and Maud his wife various parcels of land in Letherhead which he declared he had given to them when he was 'non compos mentis, et extra se et extra mentem suam.'
He also thought that the Prior of Holy Cross, Reigate, ought not to retain the 26 acres in Letherhead which Alexander, Henry's son, had given him, because he (Henry) had given them to Alexander when he was mentally unbalanced, ... The jury, not inclining to the excuse of mental aberration, sent Henry to prison.

Roger de Apperdele in the 14th century founded a chantry in Letherhead Church, and in 1365 granted a messuage to the Prior and convent of Kilburn.
Roger de Apperdele held some of his land of Sir John Argentine as of his manor of Pachevesham and some of Merton Priory.
Part of the land given to the prioress seems to have been rather poor ground: some of the pasture was too stony to be sown, and some lay in so dry a place that it could only be mown in a wet season.
This lay in the north of the parish bordering on Letherhead Common, which is poor land; other Apperdele land was between the river and the Dorking road, now called Aprils.
The property remained with Kilburn until its dissolution, when it was granted under the name of the manor of Minchen to Thomas Stydolf, and then followed the descent of Pachevesham and the other Stydolf property.

The priory of Merton had an estate in Letherhead which in the 16th century is called the manor of PAKENHAM.
In 1579 'the lordship and manor of Pakenham in Letherhead, late part of the possessions of the monastery of Merton,' was granted to Edmund Downing and John Walker and their heirs. There is no further trace of this manor.

The church of ST. NICHOLAS ... There may have been a church here in the 12th century of the same kind of plan as Charlwood, with a tower between nave and chancel, and the thickness of the existing east wall of the nave points in this direction. ...
A general repair was carried out in 1701–2, and in later times a great deal of restoration work to the windows and external stonework, so that the only windows retaining their original external stone are one of the 15th century in the north aisle, and a later one in the porch. ...

The altar-table is modern, and behind it is a modern reredos of stone. An old altar-slab is preserved in the church. The pulpit is a modern one of stone and marble, and the font appears to be of 15th-century date; it is octagonal with a panelled bowl moulded on its upper and lower edges; the stem is plain and the base moulded.
Under the tower is an old chest covered with leather, and bearing in nail-heads the date 1663.
Preserved in cases are a Book of Homilies of 1683 and a Book of Common Prayer of 1669.

About Leatherhead

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

PART 3

The lane called 'Bygnallane,' the regia via from Great Bockham to Kingston, appears to have formed a boundary.
This is the road that runs from Bookham, over Hawks Hill, through Letherhead, and on to Kingston. Probably the Letherhead part of the road was 'Bygnallane.'
Following the same boundaries that divided the parishes of Letherhead and Stoke d'Abernon, the manor stretched to places named 'Page Grene,' 'Charlewood Corner,' 'Hornshyll,' and 'Ravennest,' and so to where the ditch divided Pachevesham Common from the common of Chessington.
It crossed the old highway from Dorking to Kingston, reaching Ashtead Common and 'Asshested Crosse,' and so on to the ditch which severed Pachevesham Common from that of Thorncroft, another Letherhead manor.
Thence it stretched to a bridge named 'Woodbrydge,' and so by copses to 'Bygnallane' again. By this it seems that the manor comprised all the northern part of Letherhead parish, but did not extend south of the village.

... The descent of Pachevesham Magna then is identical with that of Mickleham and Norbury, the neighbouring manors of the Stydolf family.
In the reign of Queen Anne it was the property of Sir Richard Stydolf's grandson, James Tryon, who devised the manor to his nephew Charles Tryon.

PARVA PACHEVESHAM or RANDALLS. — The origin of the estate called Randalls seems to be found in the hide and virgate which Randulf held of Bishop Odo in 1086. ...
According to Manning and Bray he alienated it to Robert Sandes, but according to the inquisition taken at his death he died in possession of it. However, alienated it evidently was at some time, for John son of Robert Sandes held the whole manor, which included the capital messuage called Randalls in Letherhead. The manor descended to his son and grandson, Thomas and John Sandes, the latter of whom, with his wife Elizabeth, conveyed the manor of Parva Pachevesham or Randalls by fine in 1700 to Arthur Moore, whose widow Theophila and son William sold to the Hon. Thomas Pagett in 1736. ...

THORNCROFT, a manor in Letherhead, formed part of the lands of Richard de Tonbridge, lord of Clare. Of the honour of Clare the manor was continuously held. Jordan son of Amfred held half a virgate in Letherhead in the reign of Henry III. ... the Testa de Nevill ... alienated all his Letherhead property to Sir Philip Basset and the Lady Ela his wife, Countess of Warwick. The countess and Sir Philip in 1267 granted two carucates of land in Letherhead to Walter de Merton for the support of the house of his scholars at Oxford. Merton College, Oxford, still holds the manor. ...

About Leatherhead

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

PART 2

A character famous in literary history lived at Letherhead: Eleanor Rummyng, celebrated by Skelton, poet-laureate to Henry VIII, in the poem called "The Tunnyng of Elynour Rummynge". Her traditionary inn is now called 'The Running Horse,' and is near the bridge. Part of the fabric is as old as the 16th century, and there is no reason to doubt that the brewster was a real woman. [IS THIS WHERE PEPYS HAD LUNCH?]
The name Rumming occurs in the Lay Subsidy assessments in the neighborhood, and is in the parish registers as late as 1669.

Letherhead Bridge is carried on 14 arches, with stone piers and brick parapets, over a wide part of the Mole, where formerly there was a ford. According to a common practice, the bridge used to be closed by a bar except in flood time, when the ford was dangerous.
In 1362 a licence was granted to collect money for the repair of a bridge. An unknown benefactor left land in Fetcham for its repair, but in 1782 an Act passed making it a county bridge, providing for its widening, and for the sale of the land given for its maintenance. ...

Letherhead had a large common on the downs, common fields on the slope of the chalk, a common meadow by the river, a common called Letherhead Common, which still exists, and a common on the manor of Thorncroft. Under an Act of 1859 the common fields were inclosed: ... The common fields were among the last extensive common fields in Surrey.

... The earliest mention of Letherhead occurs in the will of King Alfred, who bequeathed land at 'Leodrian' to his son Edward, but it is uncertain with which part of the Letherhead land mentioned in Domesday this is connected.

The Bishop of Bayeux was overlord of the manor of PACHESHAM, later called MAGNA PACHEVESHAM, in Letherhead, at the time of the Domesday Survey. ...

About Leatherhead

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Letherhead is a small town or large village 4 miles south-west of Epsom and 5 miles north of Dorking. The parish measures 4 miles from north-west to south-east, from 2 to 1-½ miles across, and contains 3,481 acres.
It lies across the Mole valley, and is traversed by the river in its southern part.
The south-eastern part is on the chalk downs; the village is at the foot of the Chalk and partly on the Thanet and Woolwich Beds, and the parish extends northwards on to the London Clay.
The immediate valley of the river is alluvium. The clay rises at the northern extremity of the parish into an open common, with some wood on it, called Letherhead Common. The open grass-land on the downs has been partly inclosed, but there is still some on Letherhead Downs.
The yew grows thickly on the chalk downs about Cherkley Court.

The village consisted originally of a long street, with a cross-street running down to the bridge over the Mole, ... There are a brewery and brick and tile works; the parish is otherwise agricultural.
The main road from London to Horsham, through Epsom and Dorking, traverses the main street. ...

Neolithic flints and British coins have been found on Letherhead Downs. The Anglo-Saxon remains found at Fetcham lay close to Letherhead parish.
Near Pachevesham, not far from the Mole, in a wood by the side of a small stream is a rectangular inclosure of a single bank and ditch measuring about 80 yds. by 75 yds.
At the nearest point of the Mole to this work there is a ford, by the side of Randall's Park.
Fragments of Roman tile are common in that and the adjoining field, and Pachevesham, now a farm-house, gave its name to the Domesday manor, indicating that the chief settlement of the neighborhood had been here by the road leading to the ford.

Part of the south-east of the parish is traversed by the Roman or British track across the Downs, described under Mickleham, and near it on Letherhead Downs are 2 barrows, of which one to the west of the road is in good condition. The other has been opened.
The ordnance map marks 3 tumuli east of the road.

Historically, Letherhead has claimed to be the old county town, but it is doubtful whether the County Court was ever held there continuously. In 1259 a complaint was made that the County Court was held at Guildford instead of at Letherhead, 'Comitatus qui semper solebat teneri apud Leddrede.' But the medieval semper is a loose term, and it is certain that in 1195 the king's justices sat at Guildford, not Letherhead, and in 1202 Guildford Castle was the county gaol.

Letherhead was possibly the meeting-place of the Hundred Court of Copthorne. It is also geographically near the center of the county, and a convenient place for the meetings of influential people in Surrey, as in 1642 on the eve of the Civil Wars, and in 1685 for a county election, although John Evelyn complained of the election being held at an obscure place.

About Leatherhead

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Leatherhead and its neighbouring villages of Great and Little Bookham, Fetcham, and Ashtead lie at the top of the North Downs in the Surrey Hills. They share the River Mole with the town of Dorking and other villages to the south, together forming the Mole Valley District.

The Leatherhead & District Local History Society provides an essential point of contact for anyone fascinated by the way this little part of England has changed.

The Society owns the Leatherhead Museum of Local History, produces a quarterly newsletter and publications, and has a library and a large archive collection of research sources.
FROM https://www.leatherheadhistory.or…

@@@

In 1872, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Leatherhead:
LEATHERHEAD, a small town, a parish, and a subdistrict, in Epsom district, Surrey. The town stands on the river Mole, at a 14-arched bridge across the stream ... , 4 miles SW by S of Epsom; was known to the Saxons as Leodre, Ledret, and Leadride; appears to have been long a place of importance; was the seat of the sheriff county court prior to the end of Henry III's reign; was also a market town; ...
One of the inns has a spacious apartment for balls, concerts, and public meetings.
A small inn, a timber built house recently much altered, close to the bridge, is said to be the hostel of "Dame Eleanor Rummyng," celebrated by Skelton, the laureate of Henry VIII.
The church stands above the Mickleham road; is a cruciform edifice of the 13th century; was given, about the middle of the 14th century, to the priory of Leeds in Kent; has a tower with octagon staircase at the NE corner, and strong double buttresses at each of the other corners; contains carved screens at the division between the nave and the transepts; contains also, in its E window, stained glass brought from Rouen by the Rev. J. Dallaway, at the time when he was publishing his history of West Sussex; and contains likewise a beautiful monument to Mrs. Dickson, and many ancient marble tablets.
A fair is held on 10 October; and malting, brewing, and tanning are carried on.
The parish contains also the hamlet of Pattersham, and comprises 3, 507 acres.
Pop., 2,079. Houses, 384.
The manor, with Randall Park, belongs to R. Henderson, Esq.
Leatherhead House was the seat of the Gores, and of Judge Jeffreys.
Thorncroft is the seat of A. Colvin, Esq.;
and Gibbons Grove, of D. Fletcher, Esq.
Bricks and tiles are made.
An extensive common was enclosed in 1862.
The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Winchester.
Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Rochester.
FROM GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Leatherhead, in Mole Valley and Surrey | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
https://www.visionofbritain.org.u…

About Friday 18 November 1664

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Swearing, since we rarely have to swear an oath (to tell the truth in court, for example), is hard to explain. Likewise cursing is a challenge, since we no longer wish evil spells on our enemies. I leave explanations to the more erudite:

Mark Twain said “under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer,” and people have been swearing as long as they’ve been praying.
What is considered “cursing” or “swearing” has always depended on what was taboo at the time, whether it be blasphemous or simply crude. These off-limits words and topics have also shifted over time.

The original curses are probably English terms from the Bible, when “swearing” was used to refer to false promises or lies, such as when someone claims to do something that is not possible. These were considered vain oaths, and this “swearing” would sometimes be made in God’s name.
Some of the earliest expletives were phrases referencing religion, such as “by God’s bones,” “God’s nails,” or anything to do with God that wasn’t a literal and sincere oath.
Frequently curse words originated from combining 2 or more taboo words together to obscure the literal meaning, creating a new slang term. E.G. “gadzooks” was a curse used in place of “God’s hooks,” and by the 1600s, the word “zounds” — a shortening of “God’s wounds” — appeared in Shakespeare’s Othello and King John.

The phrase “four-letter word” began as a euphemism in the 1920s: Of the 84 common American English swear words, 29 have 4 letters, including the most popular three:
“Damn” appeared as a verb in the 13th century, meaning “to condemn,” and was used as an exclamation starting in the 17th century.
The “F-word” was preceded by another 4-letter word in the 10th century: “sard,” which described the same act.
The myth that today’s F-word derived from an acronym, either “fornication under consent of the king” or “for unlawful carnal knowledge,” is wrong. The expletive probably came from the Middle Dutch “fokken,” Norwegian “fukka,” or Swedish “focka,” all of which mean several things, including “to copulate.”
Another theory traces the word to the Indo-European term “peuk,” meaning “to prick.”
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first recorded use of the modern F-bomb was in 1503, in a Scottish poem, although the word was likely used earlier.

The 4-letter word beginning with “sh” has had several meanings through the ages. It was used to mean “an obnoxious person” in 1508, but the early version of the word wasn’t 4 letters; it began as the Old English curse “scite.”
In Latin, “scite” means shrewdly, cleverly, or skillfully.
By 1934, when it was used in Henry Miller’s novel Tropic of Cancer, the modern version of the word had evolved to mean “stuff,” regardless of quality.

Exerpted from https://historyfacts.com/arts-cul…

About Pearls

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

The Baroque movement of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries was named for the Pearl. The Portuguese brought back thousands of them from the Far East, and their name for "pearl" was corrupted into Baroque, and means a mis-shapened pearl.

I learned this from Episode 1 of "The Baroque Tradition: From St. Peter's to St. Paul's" -- hosted by Waldemar Januszczak -- but I recommend watching the whole series!
https://video.search.yahoo.com/se…