‘Used to convey an implication of endearment or depreciation, or of tender feeling on the part of the speaker . . . . 1694 A. Wood Life 23 June, I returned from London in the company of a little poore thing, Sir Lacy Osbaldeston . . ‘
and
‘8.b. Of persons: Not distinguished, inferior in rank or condition . . . . 1611 Bible (A.V.) 1 Sam. xv. 17 When thou wast litle in thine owne sight. . . 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 152. ⁋5 To learn how to become little without being mean. 1772 H. Mackenzie Man of World (1823) i. viii. 428 There is no Tax so heavy on a little man, as an acquaintance with a great one.’
[OED]
SP is enjoying the still novel sensation of being in a position to patronise Captain Murford, a timber merchant, and Luellin, the underkeeper of the Privy Lodgings at Windsor. Both have no doubt started to treat him with some deference now that he has acquired influence.
‘nip, n.3 < nip v.1 . . 13. trans. a. Originally: to check or destroy the growth of (a plant), as by the physical removal of a bud or the like, or through the action of cold or frost.
. . 3. a. A severe check to the growth of vegetation caused by cold; the effect of sharp cold upon plants or animals. Also: the quality in wind or weather which produces this; a feeling of biting cold (esp. in a nip in the air ). 1614 D. Dyke Myst. Selfe-deceiving v. 87 The flattering of the Sunne raies often drawes forth the blossomes very earely: but afterward come cold nippes. 1645 Milton Epitaph Marchioness of Winchester in Poems 25 So have I seen som tender slip Sav'd with care from Winters nip. 1684 G. Stepney To Earl of Carlisle 61 So hasty fruits and too ambitious flow'rs,..find a nip untimely as their birth. . . 2000 Calgary (Alberta) Sun (Electronic ed.) 14 Dec., Nothing like a nip of winter in the air to get the hockey blood flowing.‘
OED has: ‘deal, n.3 . . Introduced from Low German c1400 1. a. A slice sawn from a log of timber (now always of fir or pine), and usually understood to be more than seven inches wide, and not more than three thick; a plank or board of pine or fir-wood . . The word was introduced with the importation of sawn boards from some Low German district, and, as these consisted usually of fir or pine, the word was from the first associated with these kinds of wood.
. . 2. As a kind of timber: The wood of fir or pine, such as deals (in sense 1) are made from. white deal, the produce of the Norway Spruce ( Abies excelsa); red deal, the produce of the Scotch Pine ( Pinus sylvestris); yellow deal, the produce of the Yellow Pine ( P. mitis), or kindred American species . . ‘
One reason for banning dueling was the use of pistols instead of swords. A pistol could kill more easily than a sword and - even worse - it could be used with little training at short range by anyone brave enough, enabling the rising middle class of trade and professional men to duel with the the gentry who had learnt how to handle a sword as a child.
‘ . . 4.h. From the custom of uncovering the head (abridged to ‘raising’ or merely ‘touching’ the cap) in sign of reverence, respect, or courtesy, come many expressions, such as to come with cap in hand . . 1565 A. Golding tr. Ovid Fyrst Fower Bks. Metamorphosis i. f. 2, No man woold crowche..too judge with cap in hand. . . 1675 T. Brooks Word in Season 50 in Paradice Opened, O the caps, knees, and bows that Haman had. . . 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 29 Mar. 109/1 A more militant approach is called for and an end to this cap-in-hand begging for fair play.’ [OED]
I think Emilio's post above about property is broadly correct. The grounds were only 'hired' = '3. a. To grant the temporary use of for stipulated payment; to let out on hire; to lease.' [OED] so Robert might well have had to give them up or agree to a higher rent. The agreement would have been for a farming year, i.e. from one Michaelmas [Sept 29] to the next.
‘furbish, v. < Old French forbiss . . 1. trans. To remove rust from (a weapon, armour, etc.); to brighten by rubbing, polish, burnish . . 1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Ezek. xxi. 9 The swerd is whettid and furbishid. . . 1647 N. Ward Simple Cobler Aggawam 70 In heaven..your swords are furbushed and sharpened, by him that made their metall. . . 1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola II. i. 13 Old arms newly furbished.’
‘menses, n. With pl. concord. The menstrual discharge; menstruation. 1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 72 The seede of Darnell giuen in white or rhenish wine, prouoketh the flowers or menses. 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Fovre-footed Beastes 555 A muske-catte..is very profitable..for the bringing forth of those Womens menses or fluxes which are stopped. 1661 S. Pepys Diary 27 Jan. (1970) II. 24 My wife now sick of her menses at home.’
‘merry, adj. . . II.4.c. Boisterous or cheerful due to alcohol; slightly drunk, tipsy . . . .1575–6 in J. Raine Depositions Courts Durham (1845) 288 The said Sr Richerd will be mery with drinke ther, but not dronken. 1681 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) I. 134 Mr. Verdon..returning home pretty merry, took occasion to murder a man on the road. 1719 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth III. 7 Drunk, which the vulgar call merry. . . 1931 M. Allingham Police at Funeral xxiv. 304 When the hostelries opened, George and Beveridge became genuinely merry, but not actually drunk . . ‘
‘Merry’ is the state one intends to get into, ‘drunk’ is a mistake.
'Picture . . 1.c. With of or genitive. A portrait, now esp. a photograph. . . 1662 S. Pepys Diary 3 May (1970) III. 76 At the goldsmiths took my picture in little..home with me.'
'Little . . 10. in little: on a small scale; formerly esp. with reference to Painting= in miniature. 1604 Shakespeare Hamlet ii. ii. 367 [They] giue twenty, fortie, fifty, an hundred duckets a peece, for his Picture in little. . . 1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting II. iii. 100 Sir Kenelm Digby..compares Vandyck and Hoskins, and says the latter pleased the most, by painting in little.'
Magdalene Cambridge was pronounced 'maudlin' when I was an undergraduate there 1963 - 1966 and in Father's time also: 1928 - 1931. I have never heard it pronounced 'mag-dah-lin'.
Mr Paxman's researchers have got it wrong - it would be interesting to know where they got their information from. Not from the OED:
' . . The popular form of the word is maudlin n.; the pronunciation Brit /ˈmɔːdlᵻn/ , U.S. /ˈmɔdlən/ represented by this spelling is still current for the names of Magdalen College, Oxford, and Magdalene College, Cambridge . . '
'forˈsooth v. (trans.) to say ‘forsooth’ to, treat ceremoniously. 1661 S. Pepys Diary 16 Jan. (1970) II. 15 The sport was how she had entended to have kept herself unknown and how the Captaine..of the Charles had forsoothed her, though he knew her well enough, and she him.'
‘burnt . . 5. Of wine, etc.: ‘Made hot’ (Johnson); see quot. 1876; the precise early sense is doubtful. (Now only dial.) burnt brandy: that from which part of the spirit has been removed by burning. . . a1616 Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) ii. i. 200 Ile giue you a pottle of burn'd sacke. 1661 S. Pepys Diary 15 Jan. (1970) II. 14 A cup of burnt wine at the taverne. 1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 36. ⁋5 I'll lay Ten to Three, I drink Three Pints of burnt Claret at your Funeral. 1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby, ‘Burnt wine from a silver flagon’ was handed..being a heated preparation of port wine with spices and sugar. 1880 Barman's Man. 55 Burnt brandy..one glass of Cognac and half a table-spoonful of white sugar, burnt in a saucer . . ‘
We are enjoying another 'open' winter in London this year, a relief after a run of cold winters. It has brought a lot of rain, however, and strong winds and therefore flooding for some hapless souls.
' . . 12. a. Of weather or a season: mild, not sharp; spec. free from frost, snow, and ice; (Naut.) free from fog and mist. Now chiefly regional.
1602 J. Brereton Briefe Relation Discov. Virginia 4 Our going vpon an vnknowen coast, made vs not ouer-bolde to stand in with the shore, but in open weather. 1615 W. Lawson Country Housewifes Garden (1626) 19 In winter..open, calme, and moist weather is best. 1714 Swift Let. to Bolingbroke 14 Sept. in Wks. (1765) VIII. ii. 42 Hay will certainly be dear, unless we have an open winter . . ' [OED]
Sam was not ‘brave’: he did his duty, as he was bound to do by his position, by buckling on his sword (which he probably has little idea how to use) and pocketing a useless pistol and showing himself in the street to calm the frightened locals. Then he went home.
True bravery is conduct like this: Woolwich attack: Watch mum tell how she confronted terrorist after soldier Lee Rigby had been hacked to death http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-n…
‘head, n.1 . . VI. Uses arising from or associated with particular phrasal or verbal constructions. . . 43. A body of people gathered; a force raised, esp. in insurrection or revolt. See also to make a head at Phrases 4k(b). Obs. In quots. 1590, 1598 perh.: a standard or similar object around which troops may gather.
1381 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 55 (MED), Takeþ wiþ ȝow Iohan Trewman and alle hijs felawes and no mo, and loke schappe ȝou to on heued and no mo. . . 1661 S. Pepys Diary 8 Jan. (1970) II. 8 Some talk today of a head of Fanatiques that doth appear about Barnett. 1781 G. Washington Let. 27 Mar. in Writings (1891) IX. 195 They cannot draw a head of men together as suddenly as their exigencies may require.’
‘seek, v. . . III. Uses of the infinitive to seek. . . 20. Of a person, his faculties, etc.: a. At a loss or at fault; unable to act, understand, etc.; puzzled to know or decide. Const. indirect question introduced by how, what, etc.; also to (do). Obs. or arch. Also much, far, all to seek ; †new to seek, utterly at a loss. 1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 61 Thi wittes ben riht feer to seche. . . 1654 O. Cromwell Speech 12 Sept. in Lett. & Speeches (1871) IV. 52 We were exceedingly to seek how to settle things. . . 1709 Ld. Shaftesbury Moralists ii. i. 47 But what real Good is, I am still to seek. . . 1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped xx. 190 For the details of our itinerary, I am all to seek.’
1. Having been given sustained instruction and practice in an art, profession, occupation, or procedure; taught to perform, or accustomed to performing, a particular task or function; skilled, proficient. a. Of people. (a) Mil. Formerly esp. in trained band: = trainband n. (now hist.); †trained soldier: = train soldier n.1 (obs.). . . 1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 105 To haue six thousand of the trained bands in readines. . . 1707 J. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) ii. xvi. 217 Of the standing Militia, or Trained-Bands. . . 1964 C. V. Wedgwood Trial of Charles I (1967) ii. 46 The City Trained Bands—citizen volunteers who formed no part of the Army—had long had the duty of patrolling the approaches to Parliament . . ‘
Consider also:
‘324. The Diverting History of John Gilpin by William Cowper:
JOHN GILPIN was a citizen Of credit and renown, A train-band captain eke was he Of famous London town . . ’
Thank you Louise for this useful link. The important number to remember is the Retail Price Index multiplier which = x110 to 2 significant figures for 1660-2011. So it would cost c. £33,000 to buy now £300-worth of 1660 goods.
Accumulating the £300 then was much much harder than getting £33,000 is now. Average money earnings have increased x1700, so getting £300 then can be compared to getting £510,000 now - if you find this helpful.
Average ‘real’ earnings have x1700/110 = x15 to 2 significant figures thanks to the Industrial Revolution now 250 years old and still going strong. This multiplier is so large that it makes comparisons of this sort impossible to interpret with any confidence.
Remember that these averages conceal huge variations over short periods relative to the 350 years 1660-now, house prices being one here in the UK: I live in a London flat valued now at c. x45 what I paid for it in 1973, whereas the RPI multiplier is c. x10.
Comments
Second Reading
About Wednesday 27 February 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
‘Little’ here is a mix of sense 3:
‘Used to convey an implication of endearment or depreciation, or of tender feeling on the part of the speaker . .
. . 1694 A. Wood Life 23 June, I returned from London in the company of a little poore thing, Sir Lacy Osbaldeston . . ‘
and
‘8.b. Of persons: Not distinguished, inferior in rank or condition . .
. . 1611 Bible (A.V.) 1 Sam. xv. 17 When thou wast litle in thine owne sight.
. . 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 152. ⁋5 To learn how to become little without being mean.
1772 H. Mackenzie Man of World (1823) i. viii. 428 There is no Tax so heavy on a little man, as an acquaintance with a great one.’
[OED]
SP is enjoying the still novel sensation of being in a position to patronise Captain Murford, a timber merchant, and Luellin, the underkeeper of the Privy Lodgings at Windsor. Both have no doubt started to treat him with some deference now that he has acquired influence.
About Sunday 17 February 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
No coincidence; OED has:
‘nip, n.3 < nip v.1 . . 13. trans. a. Originally: to check or destroy the growth of (a plant), as by the physical removal of a bud or the like, or through the action of cold or frost.
. . 3. a. A severe check to the growth of vegetation caused by cold; the effect of sharp cold upon plants or animals. Also: the quality in wind or weather which produces this; a feeling of biting cold (esp. in a nip in the air ).
1614 D. Dyke Myst. Selfe-deceiving v. 87 The flattering of the Sunne raies often drawes forth the blossomes very earely: but afterward come cold nippes.
1645 Milton Epitaph Marchioness of Winchester in Poems 25 So have I seen som tender slip Sav'd with care from Winters nip.
1684 G. Stepney To Earl of Carlisle 61 So hasty fruits and too ambitious flow'rs,..find a nip untimely as their birth.
. . 2000 Calgary (Alberta) Sun (Electronic ed.) 14 Dec., Nothing like a nip of winter in the air to get the hockey blood flowing.‘
About Saturday 16 February 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
Susan: Se non è vero, è ben trovato.
About Monday 11 February 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘deal, n.3 . . Introduced from Low German c1400
1. a. A slice sawn from a log of timber (now always of fir or pine), and usually understood to be more than seven inches wide, and not more than three thick; a plank or board of pine or fir-wood . . The word was introduced with the importation of sawn boards from some Low German district, and, as these consisted usually of fir or pine, the word was from the first associated with these kinds of wood.
. . 2. As a kind of timber: The wood of fir or pine, such as deals (in sense 1) are made from.
white deal, the produce of the Norway Spruce ( Abies excelsa); red deal, the produce of the Scotch Pine ( Pinus sylvestris); yellow deal, the produce of the Yellow Pine ( P. mitis), or kindred American species . . ‘
About Thursday 7 February 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
One reason for banning dueling was the use of pistols instead of swords. A pistol could kill more easily than a sword and - even worse - it could be used with little training at short range by anyone brave enough, enabling the rising middle class of trade and professional men to duel with the the gentry who had learnt how to handle a sword as a child.
See:
Pistols at dawn - weapons that tell story of last fatal duel in Scotland
http://www.scotsman.com/news/scot…
About Wednesday 6 February 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
Roberto 7.2.04:
‘ . . 4.h. From the custom of uncovering the head (abridged to ‘raising’ or merely ‘touching’ the cap) in sign of reverence, respect, or courtesy, come many expressions, such as to come with cap in hand . .
1565 A. Golding tr. Ovid Fyrst Fower Bks. Metamorphosis i. f. 2, No man woold crowche..too judge with cap in hand.
. . 1675 T. Brooks Word in Season 50 in Paradice Opened, O the caps, knees, and bows that Haman had.
. . 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 29 Mar. 109/1 A more militant approach is called for and an end to this cap-in-hand begging for fair play.’ [OED]
About Saturday 2 February 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
I think Emilio's post above about property is broadly correct. The grounds were only 'hired' = '3. a. To grant the temporary use of for stipulated payment; to let out on hire; to lease.' [OED] so Robert might well have had to give them up or agree to a higher rent. The agreement would have been for a farming year, i.e. from one Michaelmas [Sept 29] to the next.
About Friday 1 February 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘furbish, v. < Old French forbiss . .
1. trans. To remove rust from (a weapon, armour, etc.); to brighten by rubbing, polish, burnish . .
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Ezek. xxi. 9 The swerd is whettid and furbishid.
. . 1647 N. Ward Simple Cobler Aggawam 70 In heaven..your swords are furbushed and sharpened, by him that made their metall.
. . 1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola II. i. 13 Old arms newly furbished.’
About Thursday 31 January 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
Pepys' Diary was first published in 1825. Dickens' Great Expectations was published in 1861.
About Wednesday 30 January 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
Oliver's head ‘ . . was buried In March 1960 in the anti-chapel of Sidney Sussex, Cambridge . . its presence recorded by an inscribed tablet . . ’
http://www.olivercromwell.org/faq…
About Sunday 27 January 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘menses, n. With pl. concord. The menstrual discharge; menstruation.
1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 72 The seede of Darnell giuen in white or rhenish wine, prouoketh the flowers or menses.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Fovre-footed Beastes 555 A muske-catte..is very profitable..for the bringing forth of those Womens menses or fluxes which are stopped.
1661 S. Pepys Diary 27 Jan. (1970) II. 24 My wife now sick of her menses at home.’
‘merry, adj. . . II.4.c. Boisterous or cheerful due to alcohol; slightly drunk, tipsy . .
. .1575–6 in J. Raine Depositions Courts Durham (1845) 288 The said Sr Richerd will be mery with drinke ther, but not dronken.
1681 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) I. 134 Mr. Verdon..returning home pretty merry, took occasion to murder a man on the road.
1719 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth III. 7 Drunk, which the vulgar call merry.
. . 1931 M. Allingham Police at Funeral xxiv. 304 When the hostelries opened, George and Beveridge became genuinely merry, but not actually drunk . . ‘
‘Merry’ is the state one intends to get into, ‘drunk’ is a mistake.
About Friday 25 January 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
Re: picture in little
'Picture . . 1.c. With of or genitive. A portrait, now esp. a photograph.
. . 1662 S. Pepys Diary 3 May (1970) III. 76 At the goldsmiths took my picture in little..home with me.'
'Little . . 10. in little: on a small scale; formerly esp. with reference to Painting= in miniature.
1604 Shakespeare Hamlet ii. ii. 367 [They] giue twenty, fortie, fifty, an hundred duckets a peece, for his Picture in little.
. . 1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting II. iii. 100 Sir Kenelm Digby..compares Vandyck and Hoskins, and says the latter pleased the most, by painting in little.'
About Friday 25 January 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
Magdalene Cambridge was pronounced 'maudlin' when I was an undergraduate there 1963 - 1966 and in Father's time also: 1928 - 1931. I have never heard it pronounced 'mag-dah-lin'.
Mr Paxman's researchers have got it wrong - it would be interesting to know where they got their information from. Not from the OED:
' . . The popular form of the word is maudlin n.; the pronunciation Brit /ˈmɔːdlᵻn/ , U.S. /ˈmɔdlən/ represented by this spelling is still current for the names of Magdalen College, Oxford, and Magdalene College, Cambridge . . '
About Wednesday 16 January 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED confirms the meaning given in the link above:
'forˈsooth v. (trans.) to say ‘forsooth’ to, treat ceremoniously.
1661 S. Pepys Diary 16 Jan. (1970) II. 15 The sport was how she had entended to have kept herself unknown and how the Captaine..of the Charles had forsoothed her, though he knew her well enough, and she him.'
About Tuesday 15 January 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘burnt . . 5. Of wine, etc.: ‘Made hot’ (Johnson); see quot. 1876; the precise early sense is doubtful. (Now only dial.) burnt brandy: that from which part of the spirit has been removed by burning.
. . a1616 Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) ii. i. 200 Ile giue you a pottle of burn'd sacke.
1661 S. Pepys Diary 15 Jan. (1970) II. 14 A cup of burnt wine at the taverne.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 36. ⁋5 I'll lay Ten to Three, I drink Three Pints of burnt Claret at your Funeral.
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby, ‘Burnt wine from a silver flagon’ was handed..being a heated preparation of port wine with spices and sugar.
1880 Barman's Man. 55 Burnt brandy..one glass of Cognac and half a table-spoonful of white sugar, burnt in a saucer . . ‘
About Sunday 13 January 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
We are enjoying another 'open' winter in London this year, a relief after a run of cold winters. It has brought a lot of rain, however, and strong winds and therefore flooding for some hapless souls.
' . . 12. a. Of weather or a season: mild, not sharp; spec. free from frost, snow, and ice; (Naut.) free from fog and mist. Now chiefly regional.
1602 J. Brereton Briefe Relation Discov. Virginia 4 Our going vpon an vnknowen coast, made vs not ouer-bolde to stand in with the shore, but in open weather.
1615 W. Lawson Country Housewifes Garden (1626) 19 In winter..open, calme, and moist weather is best.
1714 Swift Let. to Bolingbroke 14 Sept. in Wks. (1765) VIII. ii. 42 Hay will certainly be dear, unless we have an open winter . . ' [OED]
About Wednesday 9 January 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
Sam was not ‘brave’: he did his duty, as he was bound to do by his position, by buckling on his sword (which he probably has little idea how to use) and pocketing a useless pistol and showing himself in the street to calm the frightened locals. Then he went home.
True bravery is conduct like this:
Woolwich attack: Watch mum tell how she confronted terrorist after soldier Lee Rigby had been hacked to death
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-n…
About Tuesday 8 January 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘head, n.1 . . VI. Uses arising from or associated with particular phrasal or verbal constructions.
. . 43. A body of people gathered; a force raised, esp. in insurrection or revolt. See also to make a head at Phrases 4k(b). Obs.
In quots. 1590, 1598 perh.: a standard or similar object around which troops may gather.
1381 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 55 (MED), Takeþ wiþ ȝow Iohan Trewman and alle hijs felawes and no mo, and loke schappe ȝou to on heued and no mo.
. . 1661 S. Pepys Diary 8 Jan. (1970) II. 8 Some talk today of a head of Fanatiques that doth appear about Barnett.
1781 G. Washington Let. 27 Mar. in Writings (1891) IX. 195 They cannot draw a head of men together as suddenly as their exigencies may require.’
‘seek, v. . . III. Uses of the infinitive to seek.
. . 20. Of a person, his faculties, etc.:
a. At a loss or at fault; unable to act, understand, etc.; puzzled to know or decide. Const. indirect question introduced by how, what, etc.; also to (do). Obs. or arch. Also much, far, all to seek ; †new to seek, utterly at a loss.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 61 Thi wittes ben riht feer to seche.
. . 1654 O. Cromwell Speech 12 Sept. in Lett. & Speeches (1871) IV. 52 We were exceedingly to seek how to settle things.
. . 1709 Ld. Shaftesbury Moralists ii. i. 47 But what real Good is, I am still to seek.
. . 1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped xx. 190 For the details of our itinerary, I am all to seek.’
About Monday 7 January 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has :
‘trained, adj. I. In various senses of train v.
1. Having been given sustained instruction and practice in an art, profession, occupation, or procedure; taught to perform, or accustomed to performing, a particular task or function; skilled, proficient.
a. Of people. (a) Mil. Formerly esp. in trained band: = trainband n. (now hist.); †trained soldier: = train soldier n.1 (obs.).
. . 1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 105 To haue six thousand of the trained bands in readines.
. . 1707 J. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) ii. xvi. 217 Of the standing Militia, or Trained-Bands.
. . 1964 C. V. Wedgwood Trial of Charles I (1967) ii. 46 The City Trained Bands—citizen volunteers who formed no part of the Army—had long had the duty of patrolling the approaches to Parliament . . ‘
Consider also:
‘324. The Diverting History of John Gilpin by William Cowper:
JOHN GILPIN was a citizen
Of credit and renown,
A train-band captain eke was he
Of famous London town . . ’
http://www.bartleby.com/41/324.ht…
About Tuesday 1 January 1660/61
Chris Squire UK • Link
Thank you Louise for this useful link. The important number to remember is the Retail Price Index multiplier which = x110 to 2 significant figures for 1660-2011. So it would cost c. £33,000 to buy now £300-worth of 1660 goods.
Accumulating the £300 then was much much harder than getting £33,000 is now. Average money earnings have increased x1700, so getting £300 then can be compared to getting £510,000 now - if you find this helpful.
Average ‘real’ earnings have x1700/110 = x15 to 2 significant figures thanks to the Industrial Revolution now 250 years old and still going strong. This multiplier is so large that it makes comparisons of this sort impossible to interpret with any confidence.
Remember that these averages conceal huge variations over short periods relative to the 350 years 1660-now, house prices being one here in the UK: I live in a London flat valued now at c. x45 what I paid for it in 1973, whereas the RPI multiplier is c. x10.