24 June 1761: A cat joins John Wesley’s street congregation at Robin Hood’s Bay
John Wesley. 1827. The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, Vol. 3/4. London: J. Kershaw. Get it:
.Excerpt
I walked round the old abbey at Whitby, which, both with regard to its size and workmanship, is one of the finest, if not the finest ruin in the kingdom. Hence we rode to Robin Hood’s Bay, where I preached at six in the lower street near the quay. In the midst of the sermon, a large cat, frighted out of a chamber, leapt down upon a woman’s head and ran over the heads or shoulders of many more, but none of them moved, or cried out, any more than if it had been a butterfly.
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
Does Wesley experience animals as part of his flock, or were there simply a lot around? See e.g. the Doncaster donkey, the Gainsborough rooster…
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Original
I walked round the old Abbey, which, both with regard to its size, (being, I judge, a hundred yards long,) and the workmanship of it, is one of the finest, if not the finest ruin in the kingdom. Hence we rode to Robinhood’s Bay, where I preached at six, in the Lower-street, near the Key. In the midst of the sermon, a large cat, frighted out of a chamber, leaped down upon a woman’s head, and ran over the heads or shoulders of many more; but none of them moved, or cried out, any more than if it had been a butterfly.
106 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.
- Butterfly (1)
· - Cat (4) ·
- Chicken (6) ·
- 📌Doncaster (34) ·
- Donkey (5) ·
- Gainsborough, Lincolnshire (6) ·
- Methodism (38) ·
- Robin Hood’s Bay (2) ·
- Wesley, John (1703-91) (21), cleric and leader of a evangelical revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism ·
- Whitby Abbey (3) ·
- 📌Whitby (20), town, port and parish on the east coast of North Yorkshire/the North Riding at the mouth of the River Esk ·
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- 19 April 1747: The Methodist John Nelson is attacked by an affluent mob while preaching at Heworth Moor and Acomb (York) on Easter Sunday
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