Diary (February 15, 2021)

Online diary of Karl Jones for Monay February 15, 2021.

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Diary

English pride

“The English are vastly fond of great noises, and when they have had a glass or two of beer they will fire off cannons or ring bells for the pleasure of it.” So Paul Hentzner noted in his diary in Tudor times.

Hentzner was a keen-eyed German traveller, and he found the Londoners strange, but very well satisfied with themselves. “If they see a foreigner well made or exceptionally handsome they will say ‘what a pity he is not an Englishman!’ “

• The May Day riot of the apprentices @ Look and Learn blog

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles