How Scottish Flu makes you swell like a bagpipe

"My eyes swelled beyond my temples, and my mouth beyond my nose, and my ears met at the top of my head; my cheeks - but no power of language can describe them [...] Thus, swollen like a bagpipe, I lay groaning and screaming for many days."

Thus spoke Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, a noted Scottish antiquarian, in 1816, when writing to the earl of Leven and explaining his slowness in responding to a letter because of influenza. Much as Sharpe had clearly suffered from his infection, his letter seemed primarily intended to demonstrate his self-deprecating and somewhat crude brand of humour to the earl.

Throughout the long letter Sharpe writes amusingly about his experience, which he blames on overly hot party, and the fact that someone had stolen his coat.

"Lady Campbell of Arkinlass, who has apartments in Holyroodhouse, had the goodness to send me a card for a party ... I went, and after dancing a great deal on a carpet, and in a room hot enough to have baked all the mutton pies in the Cannongate, when I came to make my departure, I found that somebody had made free with my great coat .... I had to walk a good part of the way home in a shower of rain, the consequence of which was such a concatenation of aches in the way of rheumatism as I never before sustained in my life."

The end result was, claims Sharpe, that although "I will make no use of vulgar similitude respecting haggisses or those parts of little children which the wholeseome birch is sometimes wont to visit", his head now resembled that of the Greek goddess Fame (or Pheme), who according to legend had multiple tongues, eyes, ears and feathers.

Despite his lighthearted letter, Sharpe was in fact one of the most learned men of his generation, an editor of volumes for the Bannatyne Club, as well as an artist and connoisseur with a collection that surpassed Walter Scott's in terms of quality: including such famous pieces as Holbein's portrait long thought to be of Margaret Tudor, and eleven of the surviving Lewis Chessmen.

Account of a Paris Tournament

(Click on the image to see full size).

On 28 September 1514, a joust was held in Paris to honour the coming Princess Mary, sister of Henry VIII, who was about to marry Louis XII of France.

The tournament saw a huge archway erected with 5 large pillars, from which were hung coloured shields. By touching the shields, competitors qualified for different types of competition, including running the course with a lance (presumably on horseback), "coups d'espée sans nombre" (endless blows of the sword), fighting on foot with a two-handed sword, and throwing the lance while holding a target (in other words, while others were thowing lances at the competitor). The shields were protected by defendants whose job it was to keep the competitors away at all costs. Meanwhile, all the competitors' own shields, numbering over 150, were hung from the inside of the archway as decoration.

There was considerable danger involved in medieval jousts of this sort, and deaths sometime occurred. The duke of Albany, brother of James III of Scotland, was killed in 1485 during a similar tournament in Paris, when a splinter of wood entered his eye.

(Source, Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, 2nd Edition, vol. 1.2 p. 1392)

The disgraceful case of the Vicar of Dronfield, 1633

In daily Twitter updates with extracts from MEMSO, we sometimes come across and entry that's too good to be true. Today's example is the case of Richard Revell, vicar of Dronfield in Derbyshire. The record is really self explanatory, and, apart from being quite funny, is a rather impressive record of disgraceful behaviour for one vicar to build up.

Click on the image to see a larger version

TannerRitchie Newsletter: August 2009

The new academic year is just around the corner, which means it's now officially 'nag your librarian for MEMSO' season! In the meantime, why not try out our Short-Term Personal Subscriptions to MEMSO to get you over the hump? Convenient, affordable and a cheaper way to buy eBooks.

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2. MEMSO: Instutional Subscriptions.
3. Historical database and web application design and consultancy.
4. Follow us on Facebook/Twitter: get you daily dose of obscure historical trivia.
5. Complete list of new ebooks since March 2009.

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3. Historical database & web application development and consultancy

As well as our own publications, TannerRitchie Publishing has worked on developing, programming and shaping a range of other historical database resources since 2000. We have extensive experience of the requirements of digital academic publishing, and best-practice standards for good web application development. We offer a full range of database and web application development, and consultancy to historians and researchers interested in creating new historical resources. Contact us at office@tannerritchie.com to find out more.

4. Follow us on Facebook/Twitter: : get you daily dose of obscure historical trivia

Historians are leading the way with the use of Facebook and Twitter to create innovative ways to interact with each other. TannerRitchie Publishing provides interesting daily extracts from MEMSO, which aim to illustrate some little-known event that tend to range between the surprising and the bizarre. Since the spring we've seen saltpetre diggers running amok, James VI's invention of the air conditioner, Elizabeth I's emoticons, and early-modern waterboarding.

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5. Complete list of new ebooks since March 2009.

As always, we constantly adding important new series and a range of new titles to our existing series. But if there are series you would like to see that we don't have yet, please drop us a line and let us know at office@tannerritchie.com

Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (Treasurer's Accounts), volume 9 (1546-1551), 672pp		$20	Buy online
Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (Treasurer's Accounts), volume 10 (1551-1559), 660pp		$20	Buy online
Acts of the Privy Council of England, volume 23 (1592-1592), 484pp		$20	Buy online
Acts of the Privy Council of England, volume 24 (1592-1593), 581pp		$20	Buy online
Acts of the Privy Council of England, volume 25 (1595-1596), 620pp		$20	Buy online
Acts of the Privy Council of England, volume 26 (1596-1597), 655pp		$20	Buy online
Acts of the Privy Council of England, volume 27 (1597-1597), 456pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of Letter-Books Preserved Among the Archives of the Corporation of the City of London at the Guildhall, volume 3 (1291-1309), 324pp		$15	Buy online
Calendar of Letter-Books Preserved Among the Archives of the Corporation of the City of London at the Guildhall, volume 6 (1337-1352), 326pp		$15	Buy online
Calendar of Letter-Books Preserved Among the Archives of the Corporation of the City of London at the Guildhall, volume 7 (1352-1374), 428pp		$15	Buy online
Calendar of Letter-Books Preserved Among the Archives of the Corporation of the City of London at the Guildhall, volume 8 (1375-1399), 593pp		$15	Buy online
Calendar of Letter-Books Preserved Among the Archives of the Corporation of the City of London at the Guildhall, volume 9 (1400-1422), 402pp		$15	Buy online
Calendar of Letter-Books Preserved Among the Archives of the Corporation of the City of London at the Guildhall, volume 10 (1422-1461), 519pp		$15	Buy online
Calendar of Letter-Books Preserved Among the Archives of the Corporation of the City of London at the Guildhall, volume 11 (1467-1497), 417pp		$15	Buy online
Calendar of State Papers Relating to Ireland, volume (1600-1601), 642pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, volume 1650 (1650-1650), 764pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of State Papers, Venice and Northern Italy, volume 27 (1643-1647), 438pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of State Papers, Venice and Northern Italy, volume 29 (1653-1654), 445pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of State Papers, Venice and Northern Italy, volume 30 (1655-1656), 468pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of the Charter Rolls, volume 2 (1257-1300), 754pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of the Charter Rolls, volume 3 (1300-1326), 777pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of the Charter Rolls, volume 4 (1327-1341), 749pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of the Charter Rolls, volume 5 (1341-1417), 724pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of the Charter Rolls, volume 6 (1427-1516), 462pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of the Close Rolls, volume (1330-1333), 785pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of the Close Rolls, volume 1333 (1333-1337), 908pp		$40	Buy online
Calendar of the Close Rolls, volume 1337 (1337-1339), 795pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of the Close Rolls, volume 1339 (1339-1341), 820pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of the Close Rolls, volume 1341 (1341-1343), 842pp		$20	Buy online
Calendar of the Stuart Papers Preserved at Windsor Castle (HMC), volume 6 (1718-1718), 934pp		$20	Buy online
Cartularium Comitatus de Levenax , volume 1 (1200-1398), 154pp		$20	Buy online
Collection of the Decisions of the Lords of Council and Session, volume 1 (1661-1686), 315pp		$30	Buy online
Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, volume 1 (1264-1359), 908pp		$40	Buy online
Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, volume 2 (1359-1379), 826pp		$40	Buy online
Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, volume 3 (1379-1406), 888pp		$40	Buy online
Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, volume 4 (1406-1436), 1003pp		$40	Buy online
Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, volume 5 (1437-1454), 904pp		$40	Buy online
Manuscripts of the Duke of Hamilton (HMC), volume 1 (1315-1717), 269pp		$20	Buy online
Manuscripts of the Duke of Hamilton (HMC), volume 2 (1563-1794), 271pp		$20	Buy online
Register of the Privy Council (Scotland) - Series 3, volume 5 (1676-1678), 845pp		$40	Buy online
Register of the Privy Council (Scotland) - Series 3, volume 6 (1676-1678), 848pp		$40	Buy online
Register of the Privy Council (Scotland) - Series 3, volume 7 (1681-1682), 1001pp		$40	Buy online
Register of the Privy Council (Scotland) - Series 3, volume 8 (1683-1684), 913pp		$40	Buy online
Register of the Privy Council (Scotland) - Series 3, volume 9 (1684-1684), 1018pp		$40	Buy online
Register of the Privy Council (Scotland) - Series 3, volume 10 (1684-1685), 810pp		$30	Buy online
Register of the Privy Council (Scotland) - Series 3, volume 11 (1685-1686), 831pp		$40	Buy online
Register of the Privy Council (Scotland) - Series 3, volume 12 (1686-1686), 707pp		$40	Buy online
Register of the Privy Council (Scotland) - Series 3, volume 13 (1686-1689), 813pp		$40	Buy online
Register of the Privy Council (Scotland) - Series 3, volume 14 (1689-1689), 944pp		$40	Buy online
Registrum Monasterii de Passelet , volume 1 (1163-1529), 546pp		$30	Buy online
Rotuli Chartarum in Turri Londinensi Asservati, edited by Thomas Duffus Hardy, volume 1.1 (1119-1216), 347pp		$20	Buy online
Statutes and Ordinances and Acts of Parliament of Ireland (Early Statutes of Ireland), volume 1 (1204-1421), 673pp		$30	Buy online
Statutes and Ordinances and Acts of Parliament of Ireland (Early Statutes of Ireland), volume 2 (1427-1460), 867pp		$30	Buy online

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Recent titles

It's been a while since we've posted here, but that doesn't mean there hasn't been a lot going on. We thought it would be useful to post a list of recent titles published over the last six weeks. If you would like to order any of them, go to: http://www.tannerritchie.com/newtitles.php

Calendar of the Charter Rolls, volume 2 (1257-1300), 754pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Statutes and Ordinances and Acts of Parliament of Ireland (Early Statutes of Ireland), volume 2 (1427-1460), 867pp		$30	Add	Remove		$50	Add	Remove

Cartularium Comitatus de Levenax [Chartulary of the Earldom of Lennox], volume 1 (1200-1398), 154pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Registrum Monasterii de Passelet [Register of Paisley Abbey], volume 1 (1163-1529), 546pp		$30	Add	Remove		$50	Add	Remove
Calendar of State Papers, Venice and Northern Italy, volume 27 (1643-1647), 438pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Calendar of State Papers, Venice and Northern Italy, volume 30 (1655-1656), 468pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Statutes and Ordinances and Acts of Parliament of Ireland (Early Statutes of Ireland), volume 1 (1204-1421), 673pp		$30	Add	Remove		$50	Add	Remove
Calendar of State Papers Relating to Ireland, volume (1600-1601), 642pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Calendar of State Papers, Venice and Northern Italy, volume 29 (1653-1654), 445pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Calendar of the Charter Rolls, volume 3 (1300-1326), 777pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Calendar of the Charter Rolls, volume 4 (1327-1341), 749pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Calendar of the Charter Rolls, volume 5 (1341-1417), 724pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Calendar of the Charter Rolls, volume 6 (1427-1516), 462pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Calendar of the Stuart Papers Preserved at Windsor Castle (HMC), volume 6 (1718-1718), 934pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Collection of the Decisions of the Lords of Council and Session, volume 1 (1661-1686), 315pp		$30	Add	Remove		$50	Add	Remove
Register of the Privy Council (Scotland) - Series 3, volume 6 (1676-1678), 848pp		$40	Add	Remove		$60	Add	Remove
Register of the Privy Council (Scotland) - Series 3, volume 8 (1683-1684), 913pp		$40	Add	Remove		$60	Add	Remove
Register of the Privy Council (Scotland) - Series 3, volume 7 (1681-1682), 1001pp		$40	Add	Remove		$60	Add	Remove
Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (Treasurer's Accounts), volume 9 (1546-1551), 672pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (Treasurer's Accounts), volume 10 (1551-1559), 660pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Calendar of the Close Rolls, volume 1341 (1341-1343), 842pp		$20	Add	Remove		$40	Add	Remove
Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, volume 5 (1437-1454), 904pp		$40	Add	Remove		$60	Add	Remove

16 June 1634: Punishment aboard royal ships

A quick MEMSO extract that records the harshness of punishment aboard ships, but also the rather quaint nature of 17th century insults. 'Huble Buble' hardly seems a deadly offence, even in the 17th century, and seems, according to the OED, to have implied the ship's master was confused and unclear. Click on the image to see full size text.