Another moment in history

[tvordlj]

Yesterday was the anniversary of the death of playwright Ben Jonson who died in 1637. Why do you care? Well in my Forgotten English calendar, yesterday's word was "ure" which means a dampish mist or atmospheric haze but an earlier meaning also was "to pray" which lead the creators of the calendar to Ben Jonson because... (yes i'm getting to the point) he was apparently buried upright in a small 1 x 1 foot plot in the floor of Westminster Abbey (Poet's Corner?) and on his epitaph was written "O rare Ben Jonson". Some say it was supposed to be "Orare" which means 'to pray' as in to pray for him but as he wasn't particularly religious, "O rare" probably is more appropriate anyway.

I then wondered about historical dates that happened before the establishing of the Gregorian Calendar in 1582. Are we saying that, for instance, the death of Henry VIII on January 28, 1547 is adjusted for the modern calendar or was it the actual date it happened in that timeline? If that's the case, on our calendar, it should be 10 days earlier. were historical dates adjusted to match our modern calendar? Any of you historians out there know? yeah i know. I'll just get me coat, shall i? I can't help it. These things occur to me and i know there are historians and history geeks like me out there on my flist that might know the answer.

So yesterday, Mom and i picked up my auntie and we drove down further into the countryside to visit my cousin in Jeddore. She's got a lovely garden and one very active doggie, Daisy. Mom and I also did a bit of shopping on Sunday when i took the car back to her, and though i tried on a lot of things, i didn't end up buying anything. Most of what i tried on were either too small or too short. I hate short tops. Even when i was thinner (never *thin* just less of me than there is now) i hated short tops that cut right across the middle of my stomach and hips. I'm tall and have big boobs and i'm far more comfortable with loose tops that go down past my hips. Short tops aren't too bad with a skirt but i rarely wear those much. Cotton Ginny does have a few tops in "longer length" which is a normal length for me but in the end, i didn't really need any new tank tops.

I do have to get one of those Tide spot remover sticks though. Apparently they really do work and i have tops that have stains on them that the washing machine either has put on or that just won't get out. I swear there are more blotches on the tops when they come out of the laundry than when they went in even though i put liquid stain remover on them. Mom tried that Tide stick and said it really works so i'm having a go. I think the drugstore might have them, i'll check later. Also want to get some extra strength stain remover for laundry purposes. The stuff i bought is the generic brand and it's not as good as the name brand (usually i get Shout).

Still no newspaper delivered by 7 a.m. this morning. Am going to call and shout at the office again. No not really but i'll call every day it's not there on time. I'm pretty sure someone is covering the regular person for vacation but they're still supposed to have it there on time and those of us that leave early and take the paper to work are inconvenienced. Bah.

Comments

[maleficent.livejournal.com]

Well, I've always assumed it would be as the dates would be taken from primary sources in the first instance. Would be interesting to check though. I have some collections of letters by various Tudors at home which I'm sure could be cross referenced.

[medusa.livejournal.com]

I am not sure but as I commented above, I have some texts where two dates are given to reflect the change of calendar but have never concerned myself with it too much so long as the year and month remain accurate. ;)

Am currently trying to find a dated letter amongst my stuff but the earliest I can find is Mary Stuart's final letter from 1587 which is annoying! It isn't my period though. :(

[tvor.livejournal.com]

That would be quite interesting, re the letters. I think it makes sense that they would be the dates as they originally occurred but then if we're commemorating the anniversary of an event, birth or death, then we're commemorating it incorrectly. I know it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things but it's an interesting point, i thought.