The reinstatement of the Rump Parliament and the subsequent resignation of Richard Cromwell brought the Protectorate to an end in May 1659.
A 31-member Council of State was elected on 19 May with wider-ranging powers than the Protectorate Council. A majority of its members was opposed to military rule, which led to friction with high-ranking officers.
Parliament was again forcibly dissolved by the Army in October 1659, leaving the Council of State as the sole legal constitutional authority until it was dissolved by order of the Council of Officers and superseded by the Committee of Safety on 25 October 1659.
However, 9 members of the Council of State, headed by Thomas Scot, Sir Arthur Hesilrige and Anthony Ashley-Cooper, continued to meet in secret and to agitate for the restoration of Parliament and a civilian republic.
Two months later, with Gen. Monck threatening to march from Scotland in support of Parliament, Gen. Fleetwood once again restored the Rump Parliament to power (26 December 1659).
Elections were held for a new 31-member Council of State which held office until 21 February 1660 when the MPs excluded by Pride's Purge in 1648 were re-admitted.
The fully restored Long Parliament voted to call an election, then dissolved itself on 16 March.
A new Council of State governed the nation between the dissolution of the Long Parliament and the meeting of the Convention Parliament on 25 April 1660. The Council continued to sit for another month and initiated proceedings against the regicides. It was finally dissolved on 28 May 1660 when Charles II arrived in London.
On January 7, 1557, the Duke François de Guise, lieutenant general of France under Henri II, re-took Calais from the English.
King Francois II had the old English district pulled down in 1560. He then commissioned the best architects of the time, Castriotto and Jean Errard, with the construction of the citadel.
The fortifications were not fully completed when, on April 24, 1596, the Spanish attacked the citadel from neighbouring Flanders. They captured it the following day.
The Spanish occupied it, until the signature of the Treaty of Vervins in May 1598, which returned the city to the king of France. From then on Calais became definitively attached to the Kingdom of France.
The citadel's fortifications were enlarged during the 17th century, and the city transformed into a gigantic fortress with a military port.
Vauban, the military engineer of Louis XIV, carried out the most extensive reconstruction works a century later.
Calais’ prime strategic location was also recognised in the 19th century; the citadel housed a garrison of 1,000 men.
In 1677 Judge Matthew Hale wrote: “We have reason to believe that we of this island are not aborigines, but came hither by migrations, colonies, or plantations from other parts of the world.”
Earlier, Andre Du Chesne (1584-1640) doubted “that in the first age of the world men were drawn out of the earth, like pumpkins or mushrooms that are born of moisture in woods and forests”.
Maps define the outlines of land and sea – and identify who owns what. Names, especially of geographical features at points where national borders meet, are loaded with meaning and fraught with potential conflict.
In the 1607 edition of William Camden’s Britannia, a section was devoted to the ‘British Ocean’: “This sea which is generally called MARE BRITANNICUM, and OCEANUS CALEDONIUS, … hath sundry and distinct names. Eastward… they call it the German sea. But Southward where it inter-floweth France & Britain, it is properly called the BRITISH sea, & by the common mariners, The Chanel: by the English sailers, THE SLEEVE, and in the same sense, Le Manche in French, because it grow narrow in maner of a sleeve.”
Sharing the rich resources of the sea, regulating fishing and other harvests, remain a matter of constant debate. Where did one state’s territorial waters begin and end? Was it possible to own parts of the sea and its wealth, or was it a common resource, belonging to all? Fisherman don't have the same relationship to, and vision of, the coast as a map maker, whose ideas differed from those of the customs officer.
In a discussion of fish stocks, an anonymous 18th-century author made a distinction between ‘sedentary’ fish such as shellfish and river fish (which he said needed urgent protection from over-exploitation) and ‘travelling’ fish such as herring and mackerel (which needed no such protection). He noted: “All the maritime nations of Europe regard the fruit of this fishing as one of the most advantageous products of their industry, and the men employed therein as the base and foundation of their strength and power.”
Morieux paints a portrait of a sea alive with activity and peopled by communities who were intimately connected as ‘transnationals’ benefitting from networks that operated regardless of national boundaries.
For the Huguenots when they were forbidden to practise their religion in Roman Catholic France, this narrow stretch of water offered an escape route.
Today, the presence of British police and customs officers in Calais to monitor the crossing of the Channel reminds us of when the British monarchy claimed sovereignty over the ‘narrow sea’. Human interests continue to defy rules imposed by the state. In Calais, hundreds of British volunteers have helped the refugees trapped in the so-called ‘jungle’. Migrants, fishermen, merchants, smugglers and travellers continue to follow their own agendas and itineraries.
Calais is probably the best known port in France, and its closest to England.
Excerpted from "The Channel: England, France and the Construction of a Maritime Border in the Eighteenth Century" by Renaud Morieux, published by Cambridge University Press, March 31, 2016.
The Channel, AKA The Narrow Sea, is a strait only 21 miles at its narrowest, and has for centuries been seen as a divider – a body of water that gives Britain its unique identity as an island. “Nature has placed England and France in a geographical location which must necessarily set up an eternal rivalry between them.” -- the French propagandist Jean-Louis Dubroca in 1802.
Generations of British historians have agreed, representing Britain as a sea-faring nation, shaped by its rocky shores. The idea of borders connects with the notion that geography creates natural divisions.
Morieux’s thesis is that the narrow Channel joins as well as divides – and acts as a zone for contact as well as conflict. As a body of water, it creates opportunities for trade and transport, informal and cultural exchanges.
Britain and France were at war for much of the ‘long’ 18th century, between the Nine Years’ War of 1689-1697, which set William III and his European allies against Louis XIV’s France and the wars of the French Revolution, which ended with Waterloo in 1815.
Even in times of war, for the maritime and coastal communities of Britain and France, business continued much as usual. Fishermen harvested the ocean’s resources, sold their wares in ‘enemy’ ports and even joined forces to lobby national governments. Postal services were maintained as a result of ‘postal truces’ which safeguarded the passage of packet boats.
Smugglers flourished with the complicit support both from undercover agents and corrupt officials.
Britain was, until 9,000 years ago, connected to mainland Europe by a chalk bridge, which represents a profound challenge to the notion of its divine and impregnable isolation.
In a chapter titled ‘The impossibility of an island’, Morieux traces successive shifts in public discourse, both sides of the Channel, about the formation of Britain as a physical entity encircled by protecting water – “this scepter'd isle” and “precious stone set in the silver sea” immortalised by Shakespeare in Richard II.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, debates about the origins of the people of the British Isles became increasingly conflicted. Commentators wrestled with Biblical teachings about creation and the growing evidence for what we call evolution.
The first documentation we have about lighthouses on the North and South Foreland was in 1636 when King Charles, by letters-patent, granted to Sir John Meldrum licence to continue and renew the lighthouses erected there, so there was some sort of light on the Forelands before this.
Sir John's lighthouses were made of timber, lath and plaster, with lights on the top which were kept in large glass lanterns. They helped ships chart their course around the Goodwin Sands.
FORELAND, NORTH and SOUTH, two chalk headlands on the Kent coast of England, overlooking the Strait of Dover, the North Foreland forming the eastern projection of the Isle of Thanet, and the South standing 3 m. N.E. of Dover. Both present bold cliffs to the sea, and command beautiful views over the strait.
I wonder what the Puritan American Willoughby and the Royalist English nobleman Pickering were going to do in Dunkirk. They couldn't have been travelling together, could they? They are the odd couple, if so.
Harwich Harbor, at the mouth of the River Orwell, has always been the best safe haven for large ships between the rivers Thames and Humber. The rivers Orwell, Stour and Deben stretch several miles inland and were ideal highways for trade and raiders.
Landguard Fort (these days considered to be in Felixstow, Suffolk) dominated the navigable channel on the northern bank of the River Orwell whilst the Redoubt at Harwich guarded the harbor entrance along with a large battery at Shotley.
There have been a number of fortifications built on Landguard Peninsula: In 1543 Henry VIII had two blockhouses built which rapidly deteriorated, so in 1552 the guns were returned to the Tower of London. In 1628 a new fort was built of earth faced with stout wood. It was square with a bastion on each corner. In 1666, under Charles II, a brick wall was constructed around the fort. In 1667 during the second Anglo-Dutch War, on the orders of Admiral de Ruyter, 1,500 Dutch marines (musketeers, pikemen and sailors as grenadiers) landed at Cottage Point (now Cobbold's Point), marched down the coast and attacked Landguard Fort from the landward side. The garrison (including a detachment of The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot) commanded by Capt. Nathaniel Darell repulsed the Dutch assault. In 1717 a new brick fort was constructed but gave way to a new structure in 1744 when a new red brick fort was built in the form of a pentagon with a bastion at each corner. These walls remain today.
Diary of Ralph Josselin (Private Collection) 15.3.1660, 16.3.1660, 18.3.1660, 20.3.1660, 21.3.1660, 24.3.1660 (Thursday 15 March 1660) document 70012375 https://wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk/earls_…
Worcester journey. ... 18: I preached twice dined with the Lord Mayor [OF LONDON?]. lord give a blessing to the word. SUNDAY ...
WOW, Rev. Ralph, I suspect that was a highlight of your life. Well done,
Sir Thomas Allen, 1st Baronet (c. 1633 – 15 December 1690) also spelt Aleyn or Alleyn, was an English politician and grocer. Allen was appointed Sheriff of London in 1654 and Lord Mayor of London in 1659. For spoilers see https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
I'm not sure the toasted cakes were hot cross buns, Chris. Easter had been outlawed a decade ago. Buns, pancakes, Lent and Carnival went with it.
On the other hand, perhaps some hardy Anglican innkeepers were pretty sure no one would punish them for such a small token of resistance, and Pepys didn't recognize what he was eating?
The Isle of Sheppey, called by the Saxons as SCEAPIGE ‘Sheep Island’ is 9 miles long and 4 miles wide, situated in the Thames Estuary at the mouth of the Medway.
It’s 42 miles from central London, separated from the rest of the county of Kent by a narrow arm of the sea, called the Swale.
Sheppey, once mainly known for sheep-rearing as its name implies, falls into two regions – the northern half, built up and developed, which includes the towns of Sheerness, Minster, Queenborough and Leysdown, and the southern part, mainly consisting of marshes and the occasional tiny hamlet.
The history of the Isle of Sheppey dates back to the Bronze Age, through to the Iron Age and the Romans until they left around 400 AD.
Around 675 the Anglo Saxon queen, Seaxburga founded a monastery for 77 nuns and built Minster Abbey.
Between 1360 and 1370, Holy Trinity Church was built as part of a new model town set out for Edward III by the King's master mason who constructed Queenborough Castle between 1360 and 1368 overlooking the Swale at the same time
Throughout history, Kings and Queens visited including Henry VIII and his daughter Queen Elizabeth.
Queenborough was at the height of its prosperity in Queen Elizabeth's reign when the town was a major shipping port of wool. It also had connections with Sir Francis Drake, Adm. Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton.
The Kingsferry Bridge was first built in 1860, thus eliminating the need for ferries. Over time, there have been 4 bridges built over the Swale.
Sheerness is a commercial port and main town of the Isle of Sheppey and owes much to its origins to being a Royal Naval dockyard town. Henry VIII, requiring the River Medway as an anchorage for his navy, ordered that the mouth of the river should be protected by a small fort. Garrison Fort was built in 1545.
SPOILER: Samuel Pepys established the Royal Navy Dockyard there in the 17th century, where warships were stocked and repaired. The area immediately outside the dockyard was occupied by dockyard workers, who built wooden houses and decorated them with Admiralty blue paint illegally acquired from the dockyard. This area was, and still is, known as Blue Town.
Oysters were a cheap source of food ... and continued to be even after improved transport enabled them to be taken to towns while they were still fresh (as shown by George Owen’s account of 1603, below).
There were large oyster beds off Tenby and the Mumbles in south Wales and in north-west Wales where the Menai Straits were seeded with oysters in about 1680, according to Richard Llwyd, writing in 1832.
It is said that the crushed shells were used with tar on the feet of geese when drovers walked them to market.
Walter Davies quoted George Owen’s 1603 description of oyster production and that of Charles Hassall (1794), then quoted Richard Fenton from an unidentified source: “In various parts of Milford Haven are inexhaustible beds of oysters, of superior excellence, in such abundance, as to render them a cheap article of luxury. Llangwm, on Milford Haven, is famous for its oyster fishery: all the inhabitants of this little village derive their subsistence from them: they are small, and least estimable of the different sorts which Milford Haven produces: they are brought to Haverfordwest market, now by a late Act of Parliament as to oysters (other flat fish being also brought there) limited to a precise time, and sold at from 6d. to 8d. per hundred: besides vast quantities are pickled, in little barrels and jars, for Bristol and the interior: in this state they are most esteemed.”
"The oysters of Tenby, Caldey, Stackpool, &c. are remarkable for their large size, but deemed inferior in quality to those of Milford. … The limestone coast also of Gower, in Glamorganshire, abounds in oysters. Porth Einion, 16′ W. by S. of Swansea, employs about 20 boats, 4 men to each, during the season: those of the Mumbles (Ystum Llwynarth) near Oystermouth, 5′ S. of Swansea, are deemed the finest, and those of Porth Einion the largest.
"When the fishermen return from dredgeing, the oysters are deposited, within low-water mark, upon beds which are pointed out by buoys; and when a sufficient quantity are got together, they are shipped to Bristol, Bath, and the interior counties along the Severn.
"Dredging begins 4 August, which the dredgers keep as a festival: it being the Eve of St. James’s; that Saint may have formerly been considered as the patron or protector of fishermen.
"The sea shore in Gower is in many places heaps of oyster shells, and the sands full of fragments of them, and broken and abraded limestone: but here, lime being so convenient, little or no notice is taken of these circumstances. Immense heaps of oyster shells are also at Llangwm, on Milford Haven: these, being more contiguous to the cold clay soils of the coal tract, might be used to greater advantage." -- Davies, Walter, General view of the agriculture and domestic economy of South Wales (London: 1815), pp. 306-308
"As for Bardsey/Bawdsey, what sort of reputation for oysters does the Welsh location have?"
Yes, good oysters were found off the Welsh coast:
1825, Bardsey Island "Ate good, large oysters" Freeman, George John, Sketches in Wales; or, A diary of three walking excursions in that principality, in the years 1823, 1824, 1825, (London: 1826), p. 229
Set in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the Deben Peninsula, Bawdsey was originally an estate village and the majority of the old cottages were built by the Quilter family of Bawdsey Manor in the late 19th and early 20th century as model cottages for their workers.
The main street winds its way down to Bawdsey Quay with a tiny, sandy beach revealed at low tide and with access across the mouth of the River Deben to the hamlet of Felixstowe Ferry via the foot ferry. https://www.thesuffolkcoast.co.uk…
Campeche is known for its colorful colonial buildings, delicious food, and — pirates! Campeche was the site of the biggest pirate attack in history: The 1663 Sack of Campeche involved over 1,400 pirates on 14 ships.
by English pirate Christopher Myngs (he was later promoted for his role in the attack), the 2-hour battle produced several casualties. In the end, the Spanish surrendered and the pirates took all the gold and ships they could find.
"... to Axe-yard, in which at the further end there were three great bonfires, and a great many great gallants, men and women; and they laid hold of us, and would have us drink the King’s health upon our knees, kneeling upon a faggot, which we all did, they drinking to us one after another. Which we thought a strange frolique; but these gallants continued thus a great while, and I wondered to see how the ladies did tipple."
We know what tipple means -- but there was an even better word for it:
Rouzy-bouzy: meaning “boisterously drunk,” this term dates to the 16th century. Example: “The inn was filled with rouzy-bouzy soldiers.”
London was rouzy-bouzy that night. Farewell Puritanism; they were free. A new day had dawned, without bloodshed.
"... I looked out fresh socks and thread stockings, yesterday’s having in the night, lying near the window, been covered with snow within the window, which made me I durst not put them on."
SHIVER ... inside the window! Imagine the drafts and cold and damp throughout every building in the country. No one was warm or dry. (How lucky we are.)
They had a whole other vocabulary, lost to us now, to describe this. Like:
Snow-broth: a whimsical wintery noun dates to the early 17th century and literally means “melted snow or the water produced by the melting of snow.” Example: “A puddle of snow-broth had accumulated around their coats and boots by the fireplace.”
April 4, 1660: "At night, my Lord resolved to send the Captain of our ship to Waymouth and promote his being chosen there, which he did put himself into a readiness to do the next morning."
Comments
Third Reading
About Council of State
San Diego Sarah • Link
THE COUNCIL OF STATE 1659-60
The reinstatement of the Rump Parliament and the subsequent resignation of Richard Cromwell brought the Protectorate to an end in May 1659.
A 31-member Council of State was elected on 19 May with wider-ranging powers than the Protectorate Council. A majority of its members was opposed to military rule, which led to friction with high-ranking officers.
Parliament was again forcibly dissolved by the Army in October 1659, leaving the Council of State as the sole legal constitutional authority until it was dissolved by order of the Council of Officers and superseded by the Committee of Safety on 25 October 1659.
However, 9 members of the Council of State, headed by Thomas Scot, Sir Arthur Hesilrige and Anthony Ashley-Cooper, continued to meet in secret and to agitate for the restoration of Parliament and a civilian republic.
Two months later, with Gen. Monck threatening to march from Scotland in support of Parliament, Gen. Fleetwood once again restored the Rump Parliament to power (26 December 1659).
Elections were held for a new 31-member Council of State which held office until 21 February 1660 when the MPs excluded by Pride's Purge in 1648 were re-admitted.
The fully restored Long Parliament voted to call an election, then dissolved itself on 16 March.
A new Council of State governed the nation between the dissolution of the Long Parliament and the meeting of the Convention Parliament on 25 April 1660. The Council continued to sit for another month and initiated proceedings against the regicides. It was finally dissolved on 28 May 1660 when Charles II arrived in London.
http://bcw-project.org/church-and…
About Calais, France
San Diego Sarah • Link
On January 7, 1557, the Duke François de Guise, lieutenant general of France under Henri II, re-took Calais from the English.
King Francois II had the old English district pulled down in 1560. He then commissioned the best architects of the time, Castriotto and Jean Errard, with the construction of the citadel.
The fortifications were not fully completed when, on April 24, 1596, the Spanish attacked the citadel from neighbouring Flanders. They captured it the following day.
The Spanish occupied it, until the signature of the Treaty of Vervins in May 1598, which returned the city to the king of France. From then on Calais became definitively attached to the Kingdom of France.
The citadel's fortifications were enlarged during the 17th century, and the city transformed into a gigantic fortress with a military port.
Vauban, the military engineer of Louis XIV, carried out the most extensive reconstruction works a century later.
Calais’ prime strategic location was also recognised in the 19th century; the citadel housed a garrison of 1,000 men.
More at https://www.travelfranceonline.co…
About Calais, France
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 2
In 1677 Judge Matthew Hale wrote: “We have reason to believe that we of this island are not aborigines, but came hither by migrations, colonies, or plantations from other parts of the world.”
Earlier, Andre Du Chesne (1584-1640) doubted “that in the first age of the world men were drawn out of the earth, like pumpkins or mushrooms that are born of moisture in woods and forests”.
Maps define the outlines of land and sea – and identify who owns what. Names, especially of geographical features at points where national borders meet, are loaded with meaning and fraught with potential conflict.
In the 1607 edition of William Camden’s Britannia, a section was devoted to the ‘British Ocean’: “This sea which is generally called MARE BRITANNICUM, and OCEANUS CALEDONIUS, … hath sundry and distinct names. Eastward… they call it the German sea. But Southward where it inter-floweth France & Britain, it is properly called the BRITISH sea, & by the common mariners, The Chanel: by the English sailers, THE SLEEVE, and in the same sense, Le Manche in French, because it grow narrow in maner of a sleeve.”
Sharing the rich resources of the sea, regulating fishing and other harvests, remain a matter of constant debate. Where did one state’s territorial waters begin and end? Was it possible to own parts of the sea and its wealth, or was it a common resource, belonging to all? Fisherman don't have the same relationship to, and vision of, the coast as a map maker, whose ideas differed from those of the customs officer.
In a discussion of fish stocks, an anonymous 18th-century author made a distinction between ‘sedentary’ fish such as shellfish and river fish (which he said needed urgent protection from over-exploitation) and ‘travelling’ fish such as herring and mackerel (which needed no such protection). He noted: “All the maritime nations of Europe regard the fruit of this fishing as one of the most advantageous products of their industry, and the men employed therein as the base and foundation of their strength and power.”
Morieux paints a portrait of a sea alive with activity and peopled by communities who were intimately connected as ‘transnationals’ benefitting from networks that operated regardless of national boundaries.
For the Huguenots when they were forbidden to practise their religion in Roman Catholic France, this narrow stretch of water offered an escape route.
Today, the presence of British police and customs officers in Calais to monitor the crossing of the Channel reminds us of when the British monarchy claimed sovereignty over the ‘narrow sea’. Human interests continue to defy rules imposed by the state. In Calais, hundreds of British volunteers have helped the refugees trapped in the so-called ‘jungle’. Migrants, fishermen, merchants, smugglers and travellers continue to follow their own agendas and itineraries.
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/fe…
About Calais, France
San Diego Sarah • Link
Calais is probably the best known port in France, and its closest to England.
Excerpted from "The Channel: England, France and the Construction of a Maritime Border in the Eighteenth Century" by Renaud Morieux, published by Cambridge University Press, March 31, 2016.
The Channel, AKA The Narrow Sea, is a strait only 21 miles at its narrowest, and has for centuries been seen as a divider – a body of water that gives Britain its unique identity as an island. “Nature has placed England and France in a geographical location which must necessarily set up an eternal rivalry between them.” -- the French propagandist Jean-Louis Dubroca in 1802.
Generations of British historians have agreed, representing Britain as a sea-faring nation, shaped by its rocky shores. The idea of borders connects with the notion that geography creates natural divisions.
Morieux’s thesis is that the narrow Channel joins as well as divides – and acts as a zone for contact as well as conflict. As a body of water, it creates opportunities for trade and transport, informal and cultural exchanges.
Britain and France were at war for much of the ‘long’ 18th century, between the Nine Years’ War of 1689-1697, which set William III and his European allies against Louis XIV’s France and the wars of the French Revolution, which ended with Waterloo in 1815.
Even in times of war, for the maritime and coastal communities of Britain and France, business continued much as usual. Fishermen harvested the ocean’s resources, sold their wares in ‘enemy’ ports and even joined forces to lobby national governments. Postal services were maintained as a result of ‘postal truces’ which safeguarded the passage of packet boats.
Smugglers flourished with the complicit support both from undercover agents and corrupt officials.
Britain was, until 9,000 years ago, connected to mainland Europe by a chalk bridge, which represents a profound challenge to the notion of its divine and impregnable isolation.
In a chapter titled ‘The impossibility of an island’, Morieux traces successive shifts in public discourse, both sides of the Channel, about the formation of Britain as a physical entity encircled by protecting water – “this scepter'd isle” and “precious stone set in the silver sea” immortalised by Shakespeare in Richard II.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, debates about the origins of the people of the British Isles became increasingly conflicted. Commentators wrestled with Biblical teachings about creation and the growing evidence for what we call evolution.
About South Foreland
San Diego Sarah • Link
The first documentation we have about lighthouses on the North and South Foreland was in 1636 when King Charles, by letters-patent, granted to Sir John Meldrum licence to continue and renew the lighthouses erected there, so there was some sort of light on the Forelands before this.
Sir John's lighthouses were made of timber, lath and plaster, with lights on the top which were kept in large glass lanterns. They helped ships chart their course around the Goodwin Sands.
About South Foreland
San Diego Sarah • Link
FORELAND, NORTH and SOUTH, two chalk headlands on the Kent coast of England, overlooking the Strait of Dover, the North Foreland forming the eastern projection of the Isle of Thanet, and the South standing 3 m. N.E. of Dover. Both present bold cliffs to the sea, and command beautiful views over the strait.
About Sunday 8 April 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
I wonder what the Puritan American Willoughby and the Royalist English nobleman Pickering were going to do in Dunkirk. They couldn't have been travelling together, could they? They are the odd couple, if so.
About Harwich, Essex
San Diego Sarah • Link
Harwich Harbor, at the mouth of the River Orwell, has always been the best safe haven for large ships between the rivers Thames and Humber. The rivers Orwell, Stour and Deben stretch several miles inland and were ideal highways for trade and raiders.
Landguard Fort (these days considered to be in Felixstow, Suffolk) dominated the navigable channel on the northern bank of the River Orwell whilst the Redoubt at Harwich guarded the harbor entrance along with a large battery at Shotley.
There have been a number of fortifications built on Landguard Peninsula:
In 1543 Henry VIII had two blockhouses built which rapidly deteriorated, so in 1552 the guns were returned to the Tower of London.
In 1628 a new fort was built of earth faced with stout wood. It was square with a bastion on each corner.
In 1666, under Charles II, a brick wall was constructed around the fort.
In 1667 during the second Anglo-Dutch War, on the orders of Admiral de Ruyter, 1,500 Dutch marines (musketeers, pikemen and sailors as grenadiers) landed at Cottage Point (now Cobbold's Point), marched down the coast and attacked Landguard Fort from the landward side. The garrison (including a detachment of The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot) commanded by Capt. Nathaniel Darell repulsed the Dutch assault.
In 1717 a new brick fort was constructed but gave way to a new structure in 1744 when a new red brick fort was built in the form of a pentagon with a bastion at each corner. These walls remain today.
Photos and more at https://www.landguard.com/discove…
About Lieutenant David Lambert
San Diego Sarah • Link
"had no further command till after the restoration, when, on the 24th of June, 1689,"
Bill has copied those dates correctly. Very confusing,
About Sunday 18 March 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
Diary of Ralph Josselin (Private Collection)
15.3.1660, 16.3.1660, 18.3.1660, 20.3.1660, 21.3.1660, 24.3.1660 (Thursday 15 March 1660) document 70012375
https://wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk/earls_…
Worcester journey.
...
18: I preached twice dined with the Lord Mayor [OF LONDON?]. lord give a blessing to the word. SUNDAY ...
WOW, Rev. Ralph, I suspect that was a highlight of your life. Well done,
Sir Thomas Allen, 1st Baronet (c. 1633 – 15 December 1690) also spelt Aleyn or Alleyn, was an English politician and grocer. Allen was appointed Sheriff of London in 1654 and Lord Mayor of London in 1659.
For spoilers see https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
About Sunday 18 March 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
I'm not sure the toasted cakes were hot cross buns, Chris. Easter had been outlawed a decade ago. Buns, pancakes, Lent and Carnival went with it.
On the other hand, perhaps some hardy Anglican innkeepers were pretty sure no one would punish them for such a small token of resistance, and Pepys didn't recognize what he was eating?
About Isle of Sheppey, Kent
San Diego Sarah • Link
The Isle of Sheppey, called by the Saxons as SCEAPIGE ‘Sheep Island’ is 9 miles long and 4 miles wide, situated in the Thames Estuary at the mouth of the Medway.
It’s 42 miles from central London, separated from the rest of the county of Kent by a narrow arm of the sea, called the Swale.
Sheppey, once mainly known for sheep-rearing as its name implies, falls into two regions – the northern half, built up and developed, which includes the towns of Sheerness, Minster, Queenborough and Leysdown, and the southern part, mainly consisting of marshes and the occasional tiny hamlet.
The history of the Isle of Sheppey dates back to the Bronze Age, through to the Iron Age and the Romans until they left around 400 AD.
Around 675 the Anglo Saxon queen, Seaxburga founded a monastery for 77 nuns and built Minster Abbey.
Between 1360 and 1370, Holy Trinity Church was built as part of a new model town set out for Edward III by the King's master mason who constructed Queenborough Castle between 1360 and 1368 overlooking the Swale at the same time
Throughout history, Kings and Queens visited including Henry VIII and his daughter Queen Elizabeth.
Queenborough was at the height of its prosperity in Queen Elizabeth's reign when the town was a major shipping port of wool. It also had connections with Sir Francis Drake, Adm. Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton.
The Kingsferry Bridge was first built in 1860, thus eliminating the need for ferries. Over time, there have been 4 bridges built over the Swale.
Sheerness is a commercial port and main town of the Isle of Sheppey and owes much to its origins to being a Royal Naval dockyard town. Henry VIII, requiring the River Medway as an anchorage for his navy, ordered that the mouth of the river should be protected by a small fort.
Garrison Fort was built in 1545.
SPOILER: Samuel Pepys established the Royal Navy Dockyard there in the 17th century, where warships were stocked and repaired. The area immediately outside the dockyard was occupied by dockyard workers, who built wooden houses and decorated them with Admiralty blue paint illegally acquired from the dockyard.
This area was, and still is, known as Blue Town.
More at https://isleofsheppeyholidayvilla…
It was also near Faversham on the Isle of Sheppey that a fleeing James II was caught by fishermen in December 1688.
http://www.faversham.org/history/…
About Oysters
San Diego Sarah • Link
Oysters were a cheap source of food ... and continued to be even after improved transport enabled them to be taken to towns while they were still fresh (as shown by George Owen’s account of 1603, below).
There were large oyster beds off Tenby and the Mumbles in south Wales and in north-west Wales where the Menai Straits were seeded with oysters in about 1680, according to Richard Llwyd, writing in 1832.
It is said that the crushed shells were used with tar on the feet of geese when drovers walked them to market.
Walter Davies quoted George Owen’s 1603 description of oyster production and that of Charles Hassall (1794), then quoted Richard Fenton from an unidentified source:
“In various parts of Milford Haven are inexhaustible beds of oysters, of superior excellence, in such abundance, as to render them a cheap article of luxury. Llangwm, on Milford Haven, is famous for its oyster fishery: all the inhabitants of this little village derive their subsistence from them: they are small, and least estimable of the different sorts which Milford Haven produces: they are brought to Haverfordwest market, now by a late Act of Parliament as to oysters (other flat fish being also brought there) limited to a precise time, and sold at from 6d. to 8d. per hundred: besides vast quantities are pickled, in little barrels and jars, for Bristol and the interior: in this state they are most esteemed.”
"The oysters of Tenby, Caldey, Stackpool, &c. are remarkable for their large size, but deemed inferior in quality to those of Milford. … The limestone coast also of Gower, in Glamorganshire, abounds in oysters. Porth Einion, 16′ W. by S. of Swansea, employs about 20 boats, 4 men to each, during the season: those of the Mumbles (Ystum Llwynarth) near Oystermouth, 5′ S. of Swansea, are deemed the finest, and those of Porth Einion the largest.
"When the fishermen return from dredgeing, the oysters are deposited, within low-water mark, upon beds which are pointed out by buoys; and when a sufficient quantity are got together, they are shipped to Bristol, Bath, and the interior counties along the Severn.
"Dredging begins 4 August, which the dredgers keep as a festival: it being the Eve of St. James’s; that Saint may have formerly been considered as the patron or protector of fishermen.
"The sea shore in Gower is in many places heaps of oyster shells, and the sands full of fragments of them, and broken and abraded limestone: but here, lime being so convenient, little or no notice is taken of these circumstances. Immense heaps of oyster shells are also at Llangwm, on Milford Haven: these, being more contiguous to the cold clay soils of the coal tract, might be used to greater advantage." -- Davies, Walter, General view of the agriculture and domestic economy of South Wales (London: 1815), pp. 306-308
More at https://sublimewales.wordpress.co…
About Saturday 7 April 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
"As for Bardsey/Bawdsey, what sort of reputation for oysters does the Welsh location have?"
Yes, good oysters were found off the Welsh coast:
1825, Bardsey Island
"Ate good, large oysters"
Freeman, George John, Sketches in Wales; or, A diary of three walking excursions in that principality, in the years 1823, 1824, 1825, (London: 1826), p. 229
https://sublimewales.wordpress.co…
About Bawdsey, Suffolk
San Diego Sarah • Link
Set in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the Deben Peninsula, Bawdsey was originally an estate village and the majority of the old cottages were built by the Quilter family of Bawdsey Manor in the late 19th and early 20th century as model cottages for their workers.
The main street winds its way down to Bawdsey Quay with a tiny, sandy beach revealed at low tide and with access across the mouth of the River Deben to the hamlet of Felixstowe Ferry via the foot ferry.
https://www.thesuffolkcoast.co.uk…
About Saturday 7 April 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
That calls for a laugh emoji, Lisa Liss.
About Christopher Myngs
San Diego Sarah • Link
Campeche is known for its colorful colonial buildings, delicious food, and — pirates! Campeche was the site of the biggest pirate attack in history: The 1663 Sack of Campeche involved over 1,400 pirates on 14 ships.
by English pirate Christopher Myngs (he was later promoted for his role in the attack), the 2-hour battle produced several casualties. In the end, the Spanish surrendered and the pirates took all the gold and ships they could find.
https://goldenageofpiracy.org/his…
About Tuesday 23 April 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... to Axe-yard, in which at the further end there were three great bonfires, and a great many great gallants, men and women; and they laid hold of us, and would have us drink the King’s health upon our knees, kneeling upon a faggot, which we all did, they drinking to us one after another. Which we thought a strange frolique; but these gallants continued thus a great while, and I wondered to see how the ladies did tipple."
We know what tipple means -- but there was an even better word for it:
Rouzy-bouzy: meaning “boisterously drunk,” this term dates to the 16th century.
Example: “The inn was filled with rouzy-bouzy soldiers.”
London was rouzy-bouzy that night. Farewell Puritanism; they were free. A new day had dawned, without bloodshed.
About Saturday 9 March 1666/67
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... I looked out fresh socks and thread stockings, yesterday’s having in the night, lying near the window, been covered with snow within the window, which made me I durst not put them on."
SHIVER ... inside the window! Imagine the drafts and cold and damp throughout every building in the country. No one was warm or dry. (How lucky we are.)
They had a whole other vocabulary, lost to us now, to describe this. Like:
Snow-broth: a whimsical wintery noun dates to the early 17th century and literally means “melted snow or the water produced by the melting of snow.”
Example: “A puddle of snow-broth had accumulated around their coats and boots by the fireplace.”
About Friday 6 April 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
April 4, 1660: "At night, my Lord resolved to send the Captain of our ship to Waymouth and promote his being chosen there, which he did put himself into a readiness to do the next morning."
Apparently Cuttance hasn't left yet???