See thread for historically accurate rendering of this deposition taker at work #earlymodern #palaeography

No cat study buddy today, but TNA rat has an encouraging face. Still urging on records preservation, like the OG rats www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-...

Grad school check list: reading assignments ✅ Nutella ice cream cone ✅ Cat holding my foot ✅

Don't just give people credit, give them creedditt. #earlymodern spelling charms me yet again.

Love it when a court scribe is feeling a little extra. #earlymodern #skystorians

Sometimes, I just picture 16th century scribes to be my toddlers, and I close my eyes and listen to what they are saying. In this case, foreign merchants "in the p[art]es of beyenssee" aka parts beyond the seas. Words aren't real. #earlymodern #motherhoodskills #skystorians

Just a normal day transcribAHHHHHHHHH #earlymodern #historianproblems

Hey look, a totally irrelevant 500 year old example of what Masha Gessen calls a "bully lie." In this case, a watchman tells the sheriff, "why will not you look to yonder men carrying gear or wares against the Queen's profit?" The sheriff responds by holding up the goods, but notably

My nerdy side quest while transcribing 16th century records has been antedating OED entries. I've submitted dozens of words at this point (sorry, OED people), but this is the first one to officially show up on the online edition. I'm so happy about it. See quote from 1598 under the entry for "knub"

a man with a lightning bolt on his shirt is sitting at a table and says " i 'm wildly popular "

ALT: a man with a lightning bolt on his shirt is sitting at a table and says " i 'm wildly popular "

media.tenor.com

Look at how pretty this manuscript damage is. Any cross disciplinary scholars want to explain why iron gall ink would repel (water? who knows) in this way? A chemistry friend of a friend provided the structural formula. #earlymodern #skystorians #histsci

PELICAN LORE UPDATE: I was recounting the story in my previous thread to a childhood friend who I share basically zero interests with and he mentioned that the New Orleans basketball team mascot is a pelican. And it turns out that the state flag of Louisiana is a vulning pelican! 🧵

My face this morning while learning about medieval Pelican lore #skystorians

In a world of boring signatures by mark, be a precognizant bicycle. John Ynge of Sandwich, Kent in February 1571. #earlymodern #skystorians

I still remember getting excited about my first "she" while transcribing 16th century English court docs only to discover the "she" in question was, in fact, a boat. I have a theory that there are more named boats in these records than named women. Came across my name (almost) today...also a boat.

What do historians call the feeling when they read about the death of someone who in fact has been dead this whole time? #earlymodern #paleography🧵

As penance for missing #NationalHandwritingDay, I present some of my favorite not-handwriting details in 16th century English court manuscripts. #skystorians #earlymodern

Odd spellings often have interesting etymological reasons behind them. But sometimes, what I assume is just one weirdo's odd conception of a word gets immortalized & I like it so much. Like this spelling of 'transporting': "was strancesported" and then "so stransesported" in the line below.

Obsolete word of the day: sunderly. Used in a 1565 deposition discussing whether wool was processed separately or mixed with other merchant's wool. If you have heard the phrase "to put asunder" you have some sense of the word already (I think that counts as a fossil word) #earlymodern

One nice thing about freelance paleography is getting to read random phrases like "marchantes of the staple," and then double checking to see if I've gotten it right, and then falling down a lovely little rabbit hole about the etymology of "staple." I recommend it. www.jstor.org/stable/551016

A bright spot in my day: I looked up an archaic term for woman and OED didn't list, "also, whore" in the definition. Congrats, goodwife Parker - the patriarchy hasn't eaten your title yet. My condolences to all the mistresses, single-women, wenches, common women, hussies... #earlymodern #skystorians

Is it just me or is this 500 year old ink blot yelling at us?

Happy to announce that the #Transkribus model I've had the pleasure of working on for the last few years is live! It is built on a variety of hands used in English courts around 1530-1650 (just hit over 1 mil words in the training set!) Take a look: #earlymodern app.transkribus.org/models/publi...

Egerton: English Secretary Hand

This model transcribes English secretary hand, which was in use during the 16th and 17th centuries. The model was primarily, but not exclusively, trained on equity court material from the National Arc...

app.transkribus.org

Today in random London history landmarks: The Great Conduit. Construction began in 1245, and it stood until it was damaged in the Great Fire and then removed. Now it is marked by a plaque in front of a Tesco #earlymodern #skystorians [photo from www.londonremembers.com/memorials/gr... ]

I have been casually using #earlymodern expressions in front of my elementary aged kids in the hopes of someday hearing something about "the hurly burly" instead of "six SEVEN" ad nauseam. This is a long term project but I have high hopes for it. Any other good expressions I should use? #skystorians

Happy Mother's Day, particularly to Catherine Moyle, who said she loved her son Sir Moyle Finch's "little fynger more then any other of her sonnes" [TNA C24/256A] #earlymodern #skystorians

I will never tire of these charming little details in #earlymodern court records. "the same yeveninge in the said Cittie." Maybe calling back to the Old English geǣfnian? Or a quirk of pronunciation almost like an elision with "same" #linguistics #wordnerd

A court tries to determine premeditation (among other things) by asking if the men involved in a riot were wearing "p[ri]veye Coates stiched doubletes or Coates of defence." #earlymodern #materialculture #skystorians

Any ventures on this word? This is a particularly bad London deposition scribe that I have grown pretty accustomed to, but he still stumps me pretty regularly. Full line in the comments, more images upon request. #earlymodern #paleography

A good week for invective! "rioto<us>, evill, and light disposid persons" A brief search didn't turn "light disposed" up, but the idea seems to be about people that were unserious or undisciplined. #earlymodern #palaeography #skystorians

#earlymodern insult of the day: "crow keepers" - an insult that is also found in Shakespeare's King Lear. Crow keepers were usually young boys that practiced their amateur archery skills while keeping the birds off the crops. According to this Folger post it is an insult to someone's archery skills.