25 July 1730: John Hobson encounters two outlandish, free-living men at Thirsk
John Hobson. 1877. The Journal of Mr. John Hobson, Late of Dodworth Green. Yorkshire Diaries and Autobiographies in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Ed. Charles Jackson. Durham: Surtees Society. A (morbid) compendium of everyday England. It is sometimes unclear whether the date given is that of an occurrence or that on which news reached his capacious ears. Get it:
.Excerpt
At Thirsk. Saw two outlandish men, habited like Turks, said to come from Morocco; they were travelling about the country. The noblemen were very civil to them, and conducted them sometimes in their coaches; other times they went on horseback, at the expense of the market-towns they passed through. ‘Tis said they had a pass from the king, who ordered every market-town to pay them £5, and every sea-port and borough to pay them £10.
To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.
Abbreviations:
- ER: East Riding
- GM: Greater Manchester
- NR: North Riding
- NY: North Yorkshire
- SY: South Yorkshire
- WR: West Riding
- WY: West Yorkshire
Comment
Comment
Extraordinarily reminiscent of reports from e.g. Barcelona of the original entry of the gypsies there. See also other entries e.g. re “counterfeit Egyptians”.
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Original
At Thirsk. Saw 2 outlandish men, habited like Turks, said to come from Morocco; they were travelling about the country. The noblemen were very civil to them, and conducted them sometimes in their coaches; other times they went on horseback, at the expense of the market-towns they passed through. ‘Tis said they had a pass from the king, who ordered every market-town to pay them 5 pound, and every sea-port and borrow [borough] to pay them 10l.
79 words.
Tags
Tags are assigned inclusively on the basis of an entry’s original text and any comment. You may find this confusing if you only read an entry excerpt.
- Fraud (21)
· - George II (8) ·
- Hobson, John (32), enthusiastically morbid diarist of Dodworth Green (Barnsley), the date of whose own death is unknown ·
- Morocco (1) ·
- Romani people (7) ·
- Thirsk (14) ·
- Turkey (4) ·
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