Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
The overlays that highlight 17th century London features are approximate and derived from Wenceslaus Hollar’s maps:
Open location in Google Maps: 51.524679, -0.103726
Bottle of Hay Yard can be seen at the top of this 17th century map.
“Bottle of hay” was apparently used in the phrase “Like looking for a needle in a bottle of hay”. “Bottle was an old word for a bundle of hay or straw, from the Old French botel, a diminutive form of bottle, meaning ‘a bundle’.”
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Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.
3 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
Bottle of Hay
A tavern in St. John St., London, surely named after an old saying
"Looking for a needle in a bottle of hay. "
Looking for a very small article amidst a mass of other things. Bottle is a diminutive of the French botte, a bundle; as botte de foin, a bundle of hay.
E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. http://www.bartleby.com/81/2321.h…
JWB • Link
'A Midsummer Nights Dream'
Bottom: "Truely, a peck of provender; I could munch your good dry oats, Methinks I have agreat desire to a bottle of hay; good hay, sweet hay, hath a fellow.'
Mary • Link
"...good hay, sweet hay, hath no fellow."