Lewd Maygames and Riotous Piping in Barns
One thing about being in Cambridge is that when tourists stop me on the street and ask for help, I can provide it. "No, you're on the right street. This WILL be Trinity Street, just after you get past Gonville and Caius. Then keep going, past King's College and Queen's College, and you'll get to St. Catharine's. No prob."
It's lovely. Every place else in England, I'm an idiot, except certain small sections of London. Cambridge, I'm home.
Had a lovely morning over at the Wren Library at Trinity College. One of the advantages to havng the sort of job I do is that you get to go past the Do Not Enter signs in front of the colleges, where all the tourists are collected, taking pictures, and go in the porter's lodge, and say you have an appointment at the library to look at incunabula, and they make a phone call, and they say, "Right, then. I'll send her right up," and then they say, "Go right ahead, Dr. Brannen. It'll be across the courtyard and up the semi-circular stairs, and across the next courtyard to the corner in the right, and then you'll see the signs for the library," and so you walk very carefully on the walks, cause you are NOT supposed to walk on the grass, and past all the floral debris and confetti from the end of the year ball they had last night, and finally you find the library, and you go up the stairs into the old library where the manuscripts are and hand over your letter of introduction which says that you are a true and verified scholar and not some vandal preservationist (see earlier entry on Delapre Abbey), and they let you look at the incunabula you ordered, and you find this:
(It's in the additions to Bishop Cox's injunctions from 1579; he's gotten A Bit Annoyed.)
Item bicause the Saboth day is so fondly abused in going vnto Fayers and visiting of frendes, and acquaintances, and in feasting and making of good chere, in wanton dawnsing, in lewd maygames sometyme continuing riotously with Piping all whole nightes in barnes and such odde places, both younge men and women out of their fathers and masters howses, I charge all my parishes, within my Dioces, and charge the Churchwardens, Sidemen, and ministers to see that no such disorders be kept vpon the Sabaoth day, commonly called the sundayes, as they will aunswere vppon their othe.
As far as I can tell, Trinity College was up to EXACTLY this sort of Riotous Maygame Piping nonsense last night. But it was Monday. All's well.
It's lovely. Every place else in England, I'm an idiot, except certain small sections of London. Cambridge, I'm home.
Had a lovely morning over at the Wren Library at Trinity College. One of the advantages to havng the sort of job I do is that you get to go past the Do Not Enter signs in front of the colleges, where all the tourists are collected, taking pictures, and go in the porter's lodge, and say you have an appointment at the library to look at incunabula, and they make a phone call, and they say, "Right, then. I'll send her right up," and then they say, "Go right ahead, Dr. Brannen. It'll be across the courtyard and up the semi-circular stairs, and across the next courtyard to the corner in the right, and then you'll see the signs for the library," and so you walk very carefully on the walks, cause you are NOT supposed to walk on the grass, and past all the floral debris and confetti from the end of the year ball they had last night, and finally you find the library, and you go up the stairs into the old library where the manuscripts are and hand over your letter of introduction which says that you are a true and verified scholar and not some vandal preservationist (see earlier entry on Delapre Abbey), and they let you look at the incunabula you ordered, and you find this:
(It's in the additions to Bishop Cox's injunctions from 1579; he's gotten A Bit Annoyed.)
Item bicause the Saboth day is so fondly abused in going vnto Fayers and visiting of frendes, and acquaintances, and in feasting and making of good chere, in wanton dawnsing, in lewd maygames sometyme continuing riotously with Piping all whole nightes in barnes and such odde places, both younge men and women out of their fathers and masters howses, I charge all my parishes, within my Dioces, and charge the Churchwardens, Sidemen, and ministers to see that no such disorders be kept vpon the Sabaoth day, commonly called the sundayes, as they will aunswere vppon their othe.
As far as I can tell, Trinity College was up to EXACTLY this sort of Riotous Maygame Piping nonsense last night. But it was Monday. All's well.
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