Saturday, 16 April 2016

Welsh Cakes - The Eighteenth Century Way



Dorothea Repps’ manuscript recipe Book, written in 1703, can be found at the Wellcome Library.[1]
I was interested to see that her manuscript includes a recipe for Welsh Cakes.

Take halfe a peck of fine white flower and Dry it in your Oven, put to it halfe a pound of fine powder sugar, and a little salt, 3 grated Nuttmegs, mingle it together, and put in a pound and a quarter of Currants washed picked and dried in a Cloath, mingle them with flower and make it into a paste with 4 yolks of Eggs, 6 spoonfuls of Ale yest, 2 pound and a half of new Butter melted, When your paste is made cover it and sett it by ye fire, halfe an hour after divide it into 3 pieces, mould them and Rowle them out, and lay them one on the Top of ye other. Lay between them Raisons of the Sunne stoned; garnish the Topp and sides as you please with the same paste. An hour and a halfe will bake it.

The recipe appears at first to be very similar to that for modern Welsh Cakes, a mixture of flour, butter, eggs, sugar and dried fruit with a little spice. However, a modern welsh cake is made by combining the dried goods with cold butter and egg to form a pastry before rolling out into small rounds and baking on an open griddle. Rather, Repps’ method of baking is more akin to that used for a traditional Bara Brith, a spiced fruit loaf baked slowly in a low oven.
A modern baker might not be familiar with the peck weight which has been in use since the early fourteenth century, when it was introduced as a measure for flour. An eighteenth-century guide to weights and measures states that a bushel of flour weighs 56 lbs and, as there are 4 pecks in a bushel, the half-peck of flour required for this recipe would be equivalent to 7 lbs dry weight.[2]  Whereas a modern recipe for a fruit loaf might be based on 1 lb (half a kilo) of flour, Repps recipe would result in very large loaf. The need to dry the flour first would come as a result of damp conditions in the pantry.

Who will be the first person to send me a post saying that they have tried this recipe, though possible using reduced measures?



[2] The London adviser and guide: containing every instruction and information useful and necessary to persons living in London, and coming to reside there, by the Rev. Dr. John Trusler (1735-1820).


Thursday, 3 March 2016

Book Review: The Roman Invasion of Britain: Archaeology versus History, by Birgitta Hoffman (2013) publisher: Pen & Sword.







 The underlying theme of this book is that the paucity of archaeological evidence and eye-witness narratives concerning the Roman Conquest of Britain means that there is little irrefutable evidence of events, such that each new discovery has the power to change our perception of events. What we are left with is a series of valid interpretations.

Birgitta Hoffman is an archaeologist and scholar of the Roman invasion and occupation of Britain. She attempts to reconcile and interpret the different sorts of data to which the disciplines of history and archaeology have access, offers alternative versions of events, and identifies opportunities for further study. For example, Hoffman compares material and written evidence of the life and career of Commius, sometime Gallic ally and sometime opponent of the Rome. She suggests that there may instead have been two men bearing the same name, perhaps father and son or men of the same tribe.

Eight chapters are devoted to the first century invasion and occupation of Britain by the Romans, including Caesar's incursions, Claudius' invasion and Boudicca's revolt. One chapter is given over to each of the following three centuries of occupation when, as Hoffman explains, a dearth of eye-witness narratives has resulted in the greater reliance on archaeological evidence for the later part of the occupation. Disappointingly, photographs of archaeological sites are not of the highest quality and it would have been helpful if they had been numbered and cross-referenced in the text.

This is not the book for those who like neat conclusions: it raises more questions than it answers. That, however, is its strength. Hoffman has an easy style; her submissions are well argued and presented in such a way as can be understood by the 'lay' enthusiast and those studying classical civilisation or archaeology.



http://bookshop.nationalarchives.gov.uk/9781848840973/Roman-Invasion-Of-Britain-%3A-Archaeology-versus-History/

Wednesday, 2 March 2016

Book Review: Max Adams: In the Land of Giants (2015)





Ten walk narratives from Max Adams which explore the history of Britain during the 'dark ages' from York to Whitby, London to Sutton Hoo, Edinburgh to Anglesey and Hadrian's Wall to Loch Tay.


An eminently readable book which tells of ten journeys taken by the author across the four nations of the United Kingdom, covering more than 650 miles on foot, thirteen hundred by motorbike and another 650 by sea between November 2013 and March 2015. His travels took him to Anglesey and the Llyn Peninsula, through the Welsh marches, to Cornwall and the Scottish Highlands, from London Bridge to Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, across Wessex and from York to Whitby. It is a journey of discovery, examining landscapes and remnants of buildings in search of the peoples and culture of early medieval Britain between the end of Roman Britain (410) and the death of Alfred the Great (899): the 'Dark Ages'.

With a dearth of narrative histories for this period, Adams looks for evidence that can 'animate' our understanding beyond the archaeology of where people lived and how they constructed their houses. He explains the problems for archaeologist in post-Roman London, when settlements were generally constructed with organic materials that rot over time, combined with the probability that there were no single functioning towns in Britain during this period. In contrast, more rural settings allow for larger open-area excavations that prove that extensive settlements both existed and thrived in the post-Roman centuries.

Contemporary landscapes testify to the Early Medieval world in monuments, stone walls, tombs, earthworks, place names and poetry. Nevertheless, Adams questions the extent to which the continued existence of many place names with Roman, Anglo-Saxon or Viking roots exaggerate the genetic and cultural impact of migration. Genetic science now provides evidence that very ancient and stable bloodlines still survive in many areas of Britain, which in turn raises questions about the intermingling of bloodlines between native and invading forces. Did Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Viking invaders come here, make their money then migrate back to their continental homes? As Adams concludes: 'The past gets more interesting; never less complex'.


http://bookshop.nationalarchives.gov.uk/9781784080341/In-The-Land-Of-Giants/

Monday, 5 October 2015

Skipping in The National Archives and beyond

Continuing the theme of quirky material in The National Archives (TNA) I decided to investigate references to my daughter’s hobby of jump rope skipping.  Skipping is an activity which requires only one simple piece of equipment, a rope: as a result, skipping is accessible to anyone, but I did not anticipate that research into skipping would lead me to entries for convict women, saucy pictures and nudity, through to automated skipping machines and murder. 


I was surprised to find the earliest reference to skipping at TNA in the records of convict transportation to Australia. 
In 1843, Jane Billington, aged 26; Sarah Reid, aged 49; Eliza Normington, aged 19; Elizabeth Hutchinson, aged 21; and Ellen Mortimer, aged 45 were on board the female convict ship Woodbridge, bound for Hobart’s Town, Van Diemen's Land. The journal of Jason Lardner, Surgeon Superintendent, records that in October 1843 the five women came down with scurvy, for which they were issued with oatmeal instead of salt provisions and given a mixture of medicine, including lemon juice, and instructed to exercise by skipping every evening.

“General exercise was adopted every evening by means of skipping ropes etc."

TNA ADM 101/75/3/5 folio 17.



The next references to skipping were found in a series of photographs from 1885 onwards and demonstrate the popularity of skipping amongst women, who were generally restricted in their options for physical exercise.

'Crossing the Line' - This pastoral scene captures two women turning a long rope for their children.

TNA COPY 1/371/16, 15 January 1885. 
Copyright owner: Henry Baldwin William Luks. 
Copyright author: Luke Berry. 













In contrast, a rather saucy photograph appeared in the same year, in which a woman is shown posed in a studio setting with a skipping rope over shoulders and catching her dress up on right side so that it shows her legs.

TNA COPY 1/374/416 , 7 December 1885.                      
Copyright owner: Edward Smith. Copyright author: J A Smythe.



A similar pose by the same photographer shows actress Constance Stanhope
TNA COPY 1/375/52, 16 January 1886.

Constance Stanhope began her career as an actress in British provincial theatres.  She appeared at the Vaudeville Theatre, London, toured America and went on to tour with the D'Oyly Carte before returning to the Vaudeville in London. Reviews of her work can be found in publications such as The Era, a weekly newspaper famous for its theatrical reviews, sport and gossip.


Eadweard Muybridge (1830 -1904) was an English photographer from Kingston upon Thames, who gained attention for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. An 'interesting' example of his work can be found in TNA COPY 1/384/74 from 1887, which shows the motion of a bare-breasted woman skipping through a sequence of 36 photographic images, demonstrating movement from right hand side, front, and back. 

Somewhat defeating the physical benefits of skipping, the USA patent registers includes patents for skipping machines, which appear to turn a rope, thus saving the skipper from turning the rope.


US patent, publication number US1480833 A (filed May 1922) contains the application of Englishman, Patrick J Neilon, then living in  Cleveland, Ohio, to register his design for a skipping machine.

'The present invention has for its purpose the provision of a machine of this character, especially adapted for use at playgrounds, places of amusements or resorts, or may be used in gymnasiums for exercising purposes.

A similar application in 1960 from Robert D Parkhurst can be found in the US records at publication number US2980423 A. 
'A primary object of this invention is the provision of a mechanically rotatable device having a laterally projecting element thereon over which the child may skip or jump as the device is rotated.'


Uses for a skipping rope took a more sinister turn in 1963 when Percy Edwin McPherson was convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, following the death of his with Vilma Audrey McPherson on 4 February 1963 in Loughton, Essex, by strangulation with a skipping rope. Fortunately, I have not found any similar reports in the assize records concerning the misuse of a skipping rope.

Jump rope is no longer confined to the playground but is an international sport: I am very proud that my daughter was a member of the youth team at the World Rope Skipping Championships 2010. Today the British Skipping Rope Association (BRSA) is the governing body of rope skipping within the UK and enables British skippers to compete at European, world and international levels.
So go on, encourage your child to find a skipping club near you.
                     

                      

Skipping at sunset on the beach at Moreton Bay, Brisbane.








Other sources:

Thursday, 20 August 2015

From English Skittles to Ten Pin Bowling in the Archives.

As part of my on-going investigation into unusual subject matter found in The National Archives (TNA), my husband challenged me to discover references to his hobby of ten pin bowling. After some preliminary investigations into the game, I found that its origins lie in the traditional game of skittles. Searching under that term proved the most productive and demonstrates the importance of opening one’s mind to different terminology when searching any archive.


Skittles or nine pins is a traditional game played in English pubs and involves players taking turns to throw wooden balls down a lane in an attempt to knock over nine wooden skittles at the end of the lane. It is the fore-runner of the relatively modern game of ten pin bowling. The game differs from lawn bowls, in which the aim is to bring the ball to rest near a stationary ball called a jack.
                       
                       Early sixteenth century woodcut



3200 BC, Egypt - In the 1930’s British anthropologist, Sir Flinders Petrie, discovered a collection of objects in a child's grave that appeared to him to be used for a crude form of bowling.









3rd or 4th century AD, Germany - Church parishioners played a game with a club or Kegel (said to represent the Heide ‘heathen’). A stone was rolled at the Heide, and those successfully toppling it were believed to have cleansed themselves of sin.

1366 - Edward III banned his troops from playing the game so that they would not be distracted from their archery practice.

1455 - The roofing over of lanes in London for lawn bowls was the beginning of bowling as an all-weather game.

1477 - Edward IV issued an edict against "bowles, closh, kayles, hand-in and hand-out" for similar reasons given in 1366. The game of kayles involved knocking down pins with a stick instead of a ball.

Playing Kayles (British Library, Ms. 22494, f. 42) 





          



July 18, 1588Sir Francis Drake was playing a game of skittles as the Spanish Armada approached in the English Channel. When informed, Drake continued to play saying, "We still have time to finish the game and to thrash the Spaniards, too." He lost the game, but won the war.

Early 1600's The illustration shows pilgrims in America throwing a small ball at small pins.
                               

1824 - The extent of the popularity of bowls and bowling can be demonstrated by the number of street names in London in the early nineteenth century with a bowling reference.
James Pigot & Co.'s, Metropolitan Guide & Book of Reference to Every Street ... and Public Building in the Cities of London & Westminster:
Bowl Yard, Brownlow Street, Drury Lane
Bowling Alley, Thames Street
Bowling Alley, Tooley Street
Bowling Green, 49 King Street, Boro
Bowling Green, Lisson Green
Bowling Green Lane, 44 Coppice Row, Clerkenwell
Bowling Green Lane, 27 High Street, Marylebone
Bowling Green Row, Haberdasher’s Walk, Hoxton
Bowling Pin Alley, Bream’s Buildings [Chancery Lane]
Bowling Street, Dean’s Yard, Westminster
Bowling Street, 10 Turnmill Street, Clerkenwell


Playing skittles was often associated with anti-social behaviour, perhaps because of its connection with inns and public houses.

1828John Griffiths, aged 18, a carpenter, convicted at the Old Bailey in May 1828 of larceny against his parents. Sentence: 7 years transportation.

TNA HO 17/45/61 -
“[John Griffiths] who always conducted himself
properly, and attended his employment, until
about the month of April 1827, when he became
in the habit of visiting skittle grounds, and other
similar places, and whence he became acquainted with persons of bad character…”








1841 Connecticut, USA -  Nine pin bowling was banned in that State due to its association in gambling and crime. It is said that at this point that another pin was added so that the game could continue, creating the game of ten-pin bowling.
Gambling on games of skittles was not confined to the USA as records found in The National Archives demonstrates.


30 April 1846, Manchester - MH 12/9361/278, Folios 440-443. Letter from Robert Weale, Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, to the Poor Law Commission, including the deposition of John Tomlinson, regarding the unsuitability of Jeremiah Burrows, Publican, to be Collector of rates for Sutton on Ashfield.
“On the several occasions that I visited the Peacock Inn kept by Mr Burrows I observed persons playing in the ground adjoining the house at the games of shoes [a form of quoits] and nine-pins. I heard the person who were playing betting on the games and the stakes they placed for was ale.”


20 September 1852 – TNA PCOM 3/40/4299, Samuel Ridgeley was convicted of unlawfully obtaining a large sum of money by fraud and unlawful device and ill-practice in wagering on the event of a certain game called skittles at the Central Criminal Court at London, Middlesex.
Sentence: 7 years' transportation.

1853 - TNA ADM 101/87/8/4, the medical and surgical journal of David Lyall, Surgeon on HMS Assistance, records while the ship was employed in the Arctic Region during the winter of 1853, a skittle alley was built next to the ship for the entertainment of the crew.



1890 – TNA BT 31/4753/31406 and BT 34/692/31406, Company No: 31406; Turners' Lawn Skittles Company Ltd. Incorporated in 1890 (dissolved before 1916).

1894 – TNA BT 31/5988/42253 and BT 34/1004/42253, Company No: 42253; Patent Automatic Parlour Skittle Syndicate Ltd. Incorporated in 1894 (dissolved before 1916).

1938 – TNA BT 31/35735/343726, No. of Company: 343726; The Southbourne Skittle Club Ltd. Incorporated in 1938 (dissolved in 1950).


The notion of skittle allies being an unsuitable place for young people continued into the 20th century when American airbases began to employ young men as attendants.


1948-1956 – TNA LAB 19/498, Undesirable vacancies: employment of juveniles in amusement parks, fun fairs, etc and "pin-boys" and "skittle alley" attendants in United States Army Air Base at 
Bentwater, East Anglia.



2. Wages and Hours
 (para 2)
The normal working hours are from 1.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. on six days per week. The day off is not allowed on Saturday or Sunday....





7. Conclusions
(a) This is an unskilled and unprogessive job.




1960 – TNA COAL 80/2015/3 - Photograph depicting: ten-pin bowling. Groups of young people play in a three lane alley.

 















Nothing to do with the game of bowling but I found this entry from 1708 quite amusing:
TNA PROB 18/30/53 Probate lawsuit Bowling v Ball, concerning the deceased Jane Bowling, spinster of St Bride, London.


Other Sources:
The Bowling Museum -- http://www.bowlingmuseum.com/history.asp
Online Guide to Traditional Games -- http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Bowls.htm