I absolutely love what you are embarking on with this project. It brings us so much closer to the Paston family and their everyday activities. I’m very interested in the development of the English language, so the various ways you present the letters to us, with the originals in facsimile, in more legible but original spelling, in modern English, and with a handy glossary of unfamiliar terms, is so fascinating. Thank you so very much! The icing on the cake is that you read the posts beautifully.
Thank you so much, Tom, on every front! I am very much hoping it develops into a worthwhile dossier (if that's the right word...). I'm sorry I can't be more authentic in my 15th-C pronunciation, but glad to be doing what I can!
I can’t comment on your 15th century pronunciation, because who can say at this distance how it should be done authentically. You don’t want to sound like old Bernard Miles mangling the English language as a Suffolk peasant! I am looking forward to further posts, as the Paston Letters are such a treasure trove of social and political history, as well as being a priceless study of Medieval English in everyday use.
The Paston letters are a fascinating survival - thank you for this. I remember first coming across them when I was at uni. The thorn in the other letter is interesting too - I *think* I could make out most of it. The old w's are great with their multitude of loops!
(At the risk of being boring by mentioning my family tree - my ancestor Sir Thomas Daniell gets a mention in the Paston letters when he married Margaret Howard. He was a chancer and a scandalous chap!)
Oh my – he really was!! One of the most outrageous chancers I've come across in medieval England... I'll look forward to your thoughts when he turns up in the letters here!
I'll also try to post images of the manuscripts whenever I can – it's amazing how quickly one starts to get one's eye in...
That whole scam with his sister....! What were they thinking! 🤣 And how he managed to marry a Howard, I don't know, but it's just as well he did or I wouldn't be here.
And yes please, I'd love to see the images from the MS's. I transcribe parish registers, so I've got good at reading handwriting back to the 1500s, and I've looked through plenty of Chancery docs and some wardship docs, but I do struggle the further we go back in time.
I wonder if the possible colour for the wedding gown being a "...godely blew.." is to fulfil the ' blue' part of the bridal rhyme ' Something old, something new..' etc?
I wonder! Though the sanguine red being the other possibility pulls in the other direction... I'll see what I can find out about the rhyme – but so far I'm not aware of medieval traditions about particular colours for weddings. I suspect the idea of having a gown only for one occasion wouldn't seem very sensible to them...
This is another interesting Paston letter. I wonder if the comment at the bottom, "... for default of a good secretary..." was the secretary fishing for a compliment? As you know, it was typical for paid scribes to put a little advertisement in some letters like, "... written by the honest scribe who charges very little..." Perhaps the scribe was fishing for a compliment from Master Paston by throwing in the comment which looks like the secretary is honest for including the critical comment. It must have been hard to maintain the trust of patrons during this age. The patrons would have been suspicious that their private messages were properly related. Then as now, knowledge was power.
That is an interesting idea... Though I strongly suspect that Agnes could read, even if she couldn't write – most gentlewomen running a household would have some sort of functional reading literacy – in which case I think it would have been a brave clerk who added something she hadn't said! She was very formidable...
I absolutely love what you are embarking on with this project. It brings us so much closer to the Paston family and their everyday activities. I’m very interested in the development of the English language, so the various ways you present the letters to us, with the originals in facsimile, in more legible but original spelling, in modern English, and with a handy glossary of unfamiliar terms, is so fascinating. Thank you so very much! The icing on the cake is that you read the posts beautifully.
Thank you so much, Tom, on every front! I am very much hoping it develops into a worthwhile dossier (if that's the right word...). I'm sorry I can't be more authentic in my 15th-C pronunciation, but glad to be doing what I can!
I can’t comment on your 15th century pronunciation, because who can say at this distance how it should be done authentically. You don’t want to sound like old Bernard Miles mangling the English language as a Suffolk peasant! I am looking forward to further posts, as the Paston Letters are such a treasure trove of social and political history, as well as being a priceless study of Medieval English in everyday use.
The Paston letters are a fascinating survival - thank you for this. I remember first coming across them when I was at uni. The thorn in the other letter is interesting too - I *think* I could make out most of it. The old w's are great with their multitude of loops!
(At the risk of being boring by mentioning my family tree - my ancestor Sir Thomas Daniell gets a mention in the Paston letters when he married Margaret Howard. He was a chancer and a scandalous chap!)
Oh my – he really was!! One of the most outrageous chancers I've come across in medieval England... I'll look forward to your thoughts when he turns up in the letters here!
I'll also try to post images of the manuscripts whenever I can – it's amazing how quickly one starts to get one's eye in...
That whole scam with his sister....! What were they thinking! 🤣 And how he managed to marry a Howard, I don't know, but it's just as well he did or I wouldn't be here.
And yes please, I'd love to see the images from the MS's. I transcribe parish registers, so I've got good at reading handwriting back to the 1500s, and I've looked through plenty of Chancery docs and some wardship docs, but I do struggle the further we go back in time.
I've read just enough about the Paston letters to be excited to read more- so glad you're doing this project! Looking forward to reading it!
Thank you so much - really hope you'll find things of interest as we go!
I wonder if the possible colour for the wedding gown being a "...godely blew.." is to fulfil the ' blue' part of the bridal rhyme ' Something old, something new..' etc?
I wonder! Though the sanguine red being the other possibility pulls in the other direction... I'll see what I can find out about the rhyme – but so far I'm not aware of medieval traditions about particular colours for weddings. I suspect the idea of having a gown only for one occasion wouldn't seem very sensible to them...
Hey Helen,
This is another interesting Paston letter. I wonder if the comment at the bottom, "... for default of a good secretary..." was the secretary fishing for a compliment? As you know, it was typical for paid scribes to put a little advertisement in some letters like, "... written by the honest scribe who charges very little..." Perhaps the scribe was fishing for a compliment from Master Paston by throwing in the comment which looks like the secretary is honest for including the critical comment. It must have been hard to maintain the trust of patrons during this age. The patrons would have been suspicious that their private messages were properly related. Then as now, knowledge was power.
That is an interesting idea... Though I strongly suspect that Agnes could read, even if she couldn't write – most gentlewomen running a household would have some sort of functional reading literacy – in which case I think it would have been a brave clerk who added something she hadn't said! She was very formidable...