Jan Taylor
I'm retired and live in Edinburgh. I am interested in 18th and 19th century novels and the cultural history of literature. I decided to try my hand at online learning and have now become an enthusiast
Location Edinburgh
Activity
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
@LindaMatthews Little did I think when.I issued "the challenge" that it would take off quite so enthusiastically! Congratulations on all your efforts! and for your company over the past 3 weeks.
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
The the course material was thoughtful and interesting particularly the frequent links to primary sources. However I feel that there were significant flaws in the balance of of the content. By way of a comparison last week I suggested that it had been like a 3 week course on the Victorian novel which had spent an entire week studying "Sybil". Week 3's...
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
@CathyKelly I actually remember that one, that and the one to the tune from the "Nutcracker Suite"!
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
I think that observation could equally apply to many of our comments this week don't you!
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
Perhaps but I'm pleased that the "challenge" has obviously. provided some calorie- free food for thought
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
@MarkJackson Absolutely- so basically the issue isn't the morality or otherwise of stereotyping it's the whole concept of subtle manipulation to buy. And anyway your advert is a non-starter because I know a whole lot of women who fell for the truck driver!
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Here's a challenge. Try devising an advertisement for a new brand of chocolate which, if successful, is guaranteed to appeal to about 50% of the population -namely men. The only proviso is that it must not include any stereotypical allusions.
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Is it heretical to suggest that, particularly in the case of Honeybunch, the colour of her skin is almost less stereotypical than her physical appearance as "a little girl".? She is the typical little Mabel Lucy Attwell girl, chubby, smiling, frilly and loveable - an image much loved by "Mummies" at that time as the plethora of storybooks and linked products...
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
I feel that this week has been rather comparable to enrolling for a three week course on the Victorian novel and then spending an entire week studying " Sybil"
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Topics for discussion in this section comprise global,political and social issues which demand deeper and more extensive thought
and background knowledge than the limited scope allows for response.
Having studied primary documentation on the life of a 14th century nun in the city and much other source material besides does no documentation exist, for... -
Jan Taylor replied to Mary R
@TRHarrington Your kindness is much appreciated !!
-
@HeatherGranger Why complain - at least you could make youself some nice hot chocolate!
-
@DianeAyres Well at least you could use it to clear up the mess after you threw the dirty dishwater at him!
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Well some people seem to think it was far from absent
Who can argue with "At its height, it was the largest Empire in history. By 1913 the British Empire covered 35.5 million sq km or 13.7 million sq miles (24 percent of the planet's total land area)."?
Or even (from the official "Royal Family" website)
"Queen Victoria is associated with Britain's great... -
Jan Taylor replied to Mary R
@JudiBoutle Get thee behind me Satan!
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
How can it not be present ? Most of us who stay in Britain are "children of Empire" - we all share that inheritance -whether we are proud of it is another question altogether.
“People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.” ― Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France. -
Jan Taylor replied to Mary R
@JudiBoutle It's a long way to travel from Edinburgh but I just might be tempted!
-
@MargaretTaylor 'Could be worse- if you had bought it and don't like it you would have been stuck with yet another doorstop! I' m sure you will enjoy it though. Let me know if we meet up again on another course!
-
@MargaretTaylor Which one?
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
@MickPopka Thank you Mick - that's interesting. Now I have to find out how he solidified chocolate!
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Interesting that it started as a confectionery business. I had rather thought that it might have been a development from another trade -bakery came to mind.
Nor did I realise that confectionery production was such an "industry" I had again thought of it as a much more local trade. -
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
@JudiBoutle Absolutely! Plus it's quite interesting to see the feedback you get from other learners for a wee while after you're finished.
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
@JudiBoutle Thanks Judi. I wondered because all the other F'learn courses I've done ( for free) have given access for 6 weeks although mentoring stops before that.
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
I am aware of the Quaker connection but not anything about its social or economic influence. I'm curious to know if Rowntree had any involvement with the fashion for chocolate drinking in the 18th century. I am also profoundly vexed that I was born too late to sample a chocolate apple!
-
Jan Taylor replied to jane Wardle
@YvonneWilliams That sounds just my kind of morning! Enjoy!
-
Jan Taylor replied to jane Wardle
@YvonneWilliams Hi Yvonne - it looks as though you might be able to - good luck!
https://www.library.wales/discover/other-resources/external-resources -
Jan Taylor replied to jane Wardle
As I mentioned in another post Jstor is an amazing resource I have access via my National Library of Scotland membership if you don't use it yet I'm sure there are loads of libraries etc. where you are that will give you access.
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Does access to notifications etc end when mentoring stops on the 31st July or do we still have access to the course for a few weeks?
-
Jan Taylor replied to jane Wardle
@CathyKelly Morning Cathy - hope things have cooled down a bit where you are. This sort of question is what makes looking at "history so fascinating (and frustrating!) isn't it?
-
Jan Taylor replied to jane Wardle
@janeWardle Hi Jane - I found this article quite interesting https://daily.jstor.org/what-a-16th-century-abortion-ban-revealed/
Especially the date of Pope Sixtus V 's papal bull (In 1588) -
Jan Taylor replied to Mary R
No,*that* is ecstasy!
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
From experience I know how difficult it is to plan a balanced and interesting course and on the fact that , of course,"you can't please all of the people " etc. I think that this one is doing a pretty fine job . It is , after all "The Hidden History of York" and, as such, examines some aspects of the city's past that are "off the tourist trail". It has...
-
Jan Taylor replied to Diane Ayres
@DianeAyres Our how about " the tinglesome taste of fruit on the tip of your tongue"? Sadly I can remember the whole jingle!
-
Trust you to come up with something horribly intellectual while the rest of us are still bemoaning our lost youth!
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
My experience with the database demonstrates the fascinations (and hazards?) of such for the “ curious amateur”. My first keyword produced only 1 hit- disappointing - however the information contained a word I had never heard before namely “armiger”. Entering this as my second keyword produced 481 hits from which I assumed it was something I ought to know...
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
You lucky girl! I hope your "then fiance' became your husband!
-
The complexities of the system and the legal process make access to the legal system sound very much like the art of the possible for many. How low is "lowly status?" Were there any barriers to access- personal worthh? tax status? free or bonded? Did the magnates and landowners have any role in local legal administration or was it purely the prerogative of the...
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
I imagine the papers will provide a helpful overview of those actions which were classed as criminal at each period - equally interesting will be to see the sort of matters that the courts did not consider, ommisions rather than commissions.
-
But then perhaps you aren't a 16th century tenant of a local monastery possibly facing financial ruin and in fear of your eternal soul
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Apart from the punishments in place for the recusants themselves there existed a more insidious form of control which threatened the whole community, namely the punishment for those who failed to reveal information on anyone known to be recusant. A whole community was forced into becoming informers . Imagine the anguish of someone who discovered this about...
-
Neither is there any suggestion that Pickering "read it to the masses" but when a man or a woman dies for a cause whatever remains of them - be it a document or a hand - becomes a source of interest. Martin Luther King is perhaps a comparison for our age.
-
@HughRobertson Hello Hugh -I think we met up at "Rasselas" ! There isn't a suggestion that it was "sung" at all is there? How many original copies of Shakespeare's sonnets do we have?
-
That's what having a mentor like George Buchanan does for you!
-
@EricJohnson What surprised me most when I came to read the section again was when I realised that this was Elizabethan England. I suppose James I had other priorities!
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Such records can provide a fascinating and invaluable resource; however it would always be important to remember the kind of record one is looking at. The two extracts on the previous section are an excellent example- two records, same event same time, two very different stories.
Henry VIII and his court look very different here ( f.... -
Jan Taylor made a comment
Like many others this is a new resource to me.
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
During the course of her life Margaret must have had to face two very difficult questions and for most people of faith at the period the dilemmas would , I suggest have been the same.
For Margaret, born into a Protestant environment the first spiritual question that faced her would be “what does the health of my soul stand to gain or lose by leaving the faith... -
Was "pressing" used as a punishment for religious crime because , technically, it did not shed blood?
-
@EricJohnson Hi Eric, I think the reason she refused a trial was because, if she had been tried, her children would have been forced to testify against her.
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
The text of the poem has a rather Old Testament ring to it a suggestion of "The chosen people" and "armies of the Lord" and that continues in the suggestion that the people of the south are not just misguided but heretical - real enemies of God and as such worthy of destruction -with violence if necessary(shades of the walls of Jericho?) Something else...
-
@JohnColenutt I doubt if 20-30 thousand individuals would walk away saying "what was all that about" . Remember the listeners were hearing it nearly haf a millenium ago.
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
I'm in no way suggesting that it's the way Pickering got his message over but for curiosity's sake try rapping it! It's surprising how things change when we listen without preconceived ideas.
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Since time immemorial protest movements have adopted certain songs and poems as their own (My favourites are the Scottish nuclear protest songs of the sixties including such gems as
Chase the Yankees oot the Clyde,
Away wi Uncle Sammy;
Chase the Yankees oot the Clyde
An send them hame tae mammy. (Guess the tune. Well nobody said anything about... -
Jan Taylor made a comment
Any protest made up of 20-30 thousand people has to be impressive ;however it can only be said to be effective if it produces the required results and since none of their demands were met its effectiveness seems questionable.
Is it too simplistic to suggest that its failure has something to do with the personalities of the principal protagonists? Aske... -
Jan Taylor made a comment
If the stated purpose of the Rising was, as seems to be the case, to demonstrate opposition to Henry’s suppression of the monasteries and not against the king himself then it is understandable that there was great public support for the action. Such an act would have huge impact on the lives of “Everyman”, both economically and spiritually, tapping into...
-
@MargaretTaylor Hi again PS Eamon Duffy's "The Voices of Morebath" is another fascinating read. I've added it to my post.
-
@MargaretTaylor It's a while since I read it but I have it on my Kindle already to revisit after the course I hope you enjoy it.
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
She was born in 1556 and martyred 30 years later. A wife and mother, she was a Roman Catholic convert who sheltered Jesuit priests illegally working in England. Having been questioned and imprisoned a number of times she was finally ,having refused a trial, sentenced to death by "pressing" despite being heavily pregnant . She was canonised in 1970 and...
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Do you mean apart from the fact that they were the ones who " stole " OUR ( i.e. Duncan of Edinburgh )Walnut Whip, renamed it, reduced it in size and then perpetrated the ultimate sacrilege of removing the walnuts?
-
Jan Taylor replied to Janet P
Thanks for the links Janet- especially for Jstor- the fount of all wisdom!
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
The early modern period spans times of great change in all areas of life for all classes of people ;I don't know a great deal about the town and the region specifically although the Wars of the Roses and the ongoing religious tensions must have impacted greatly. For a region which was held and administered by great monastic institutions the dissolution of the...
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Because of my interest in hagiography and the history of saints' cults I'm keen to find out more about Margaret Clitherow. A number of years ago I visited the Bar Convent and her shrine in the Shambles but will be interested in trying to understand the "political" background to her martyrdom.
-
My first encounter with "The Pilgrimage of Grace" came when, many years ago, I read H.F.M Prescott's brilliant "The Man on a Donkey". Out of print for years it has now been republished and is available in various formats. For anyone with a Kindle unlimited subscription it is currently available for free. Enjoy! Another very worthwhile read is Eamon Duffy's...
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
The best sort of courses are the ones that send you off to find out more and this week ticks all the boxes- thank you Tim. Is there any chance of a short,further reading bibliography ? The comments from other learners have been interesting ,informed and good- natured thank you all 'Looking forward to meeting up again next week!
-
Jan Taylor replied to Stephen Cadywold
Hi Stephen, I'm so glad that the plays are still being "taken round".You might like to have a look at my comment at 1.17! I envy you very much. 'Hope you enjoy the course.
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Oh those wonderful BBC RP voices! almost as "historical " as the plays themselves! A number of years ago while spending the day in York ,quite unexpectedly, this huge cart appeared hauled along and accompanied by figures in brightly coloured "medieval "dress walking alongside. One of my lifelong ambitions was about to be granted - I was going to see a mystery...
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
@CathyKelly I still have one as a keepsake! (A £20 note not an Irish coin!
-
Jan Taylor replied to Cathy Kelly
@CathyKelly Maybe there is something on youtube about the plays
-
@MarianneRose I absolutely agree as I commented above.
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Neither model seems to take account of the inherited history of religious drama as a whole as it passed from the church to the laity and their increasing wish to be more immediately involved in the events of the biblical narrative. It's interesting that the text coincides with the early stages of the Devotio Moderna - if lay Christians were being encouraged to...
-
Jan Taylor replied to Cathy Kelly
Hi Cathy -did you use the TEAMS site? it helps a lot.
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
The B.L's articles are always interesting
https://www.bl.uk/medieval-literature/articles/medieval-drama-and-the-mystery-plays
Also it's interesting to have a look at the info. of this particular MS description on the BL's Digitise Manuscripts site
https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_35290
and here is a link for an article I came... -
Jan Taylor made a comment
The medieval audience would come to its mystery plays with a mindset hugely different to an average audience today simply because they were familiar – both intellectually and emotionally -with what they were seeing and believed that they dramatised ultimate realities in which they – literally- “had faith” The stories and images they saw on the carts were...
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
This is an absorbing site! I decided to search for a place, an occupation and a nationality and found some fascinating information
“Berwick” produced 9 hits – made up of 3 French, 1 Norman, 1 Irish and , not surprisingly, 4 Scots, -more or less the typical pattern described in the video.Doctor - produced 13 possibilities –both physicians and Doctors...
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
I can still remember the trip to the bank on the Friday before we went on holiday so that we could get "English notes". Maybe the mediaevals had it easier when barter was more acceptable.
-
The most terrifying moments in my career -possibly even my life- came when, in my final student year, I had to sit in front of a camera and talk for 5 minutes! The only thing that came near it was my first attempt at loading a film projector. I did go on to a 25 year career in teaching and lecturing so hang in there Tim! (I still can't load a film projector)
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
With the wars in Europe taking men abroad some may have married local women. Were the wives classed as aliens? Men who graduated at foreign universities may have chosen to remain at York to work in the church courts or government.
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
'Interesting to learn the origin of the word "denizen" which seems to crop up in various contexts. Were representatives of foreign governments such as ambassadors and their staff or non--English churchmen subject to the same rules? Some things never seem to change - particularly our suspicions of the "different"- have you ever tried to use a Scottish £20 note...
-
Jan Taylor replied to Janet P
@JanetP Hi Janet, sorry I hadn't seen your comment by the time I had uploaded my own today on the next section.What a coincidence that we both "discovered" the same woman and isn't it an absolutely fascinating database?
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
I went for the lowest figure but it was interesting to try imagine who these "strangers" might be!
A significant group of "foreigners" in many European cities at the time could have been Jewish but this wasn't the case in England thanks to Edward I,also Europe was still recovering from the Black Death so emigration may have been affected. A significant... -
Jan Taylor made a comment
It was interesting to see – on a search for “apostasy” -between 1306 and 1373 there were only 16 hits- including both sexes and only a few for a penance as a result of “ sins of the flesh” .Also most of the entries seem to be orders for readmission of the culprits.
Another entry ( Register 7 f.154 (v) entry 1 )concerns admission to Clemethorpe of Isabella... -
Jan Taylor made a comment
This example is perhaps a little untypical since the events concerning the “escaping” nuns took place within a comparatively short space of time and in a single convent. Is it, for example pure coincidence that 2 out of 3 of the cases involve a priest called John and that again 2 of the runaways came originally from the same area? Causes for unrest might...
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
There is little evidence of the nature of the help that Joan's " accomplices" offered. In order to carry out a fake death and the ensuing rituals I suggest that perhaps her demise was purported to have occurred "off the premises". Was she "sent on a journey to another house ,dying on the way" and returned to her convent (or at least some "body" did) already...
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Bearing in mind that the life of religion was a very real option and,trying to "think medieval "-as usual, the answer is “It all depends” .The key question I would be asking is “Did I have a choice?” If I were simply sent to a convent because I was unmarriageable– anything from “difficult to manage” (!) dowerless – even incapacitated in some way among ...
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
As soon as I saw the words "Historical Sources", Mystery Plays and "Medieval" I was in!
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
@JanetBrinsmead Hi Janet, By "people we meet" I actually meant the inhabitants of York!! not people on the course who are , of course, timeless!
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
My experience of York is based largely on brief visits over the years – mainly on days while resting leg muscles after walking the Dales! Because of my interests the visits consisted mainly of “church crawling” to see real aspects of medieval church history that , living in post-Reformation Scotland, are pretty thin on the ground.The sight of the Minster from...
-
Jan Taylor replied to Cathy Kelly
Hi Beatriz, I thought I recognised your name. Have a look at my profile page where the courses we've done are listed and you can see where we may have bumped into each other!
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
@SusanAnneMurray Hi Susan - good to meet you.I suppose we ought to be grateful that most of the people we are going to "meet" over the next three weeks wouldn't have made it this far! And anyway travel - even the virtual kind - is supposed to broaden the mind and keep the grey matter on form. Enjoy the course.
-
Jan Taylor replied to Cathy Kelly
@CathyKelly Hi Cathy, Great to "see" you again -hope you enjoy the course !
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Hello everyone- I’m Jan , 75 (nearly) and enjoying educating myself instead of others. I’ve always lived in Edinburgh.
Many years ago I “met” St. Triduana” during a visit to Restalrig Collegiate church – in the city- and from that developed a lifelong interest in medieval saints’ cults – especially their legends and iconography. Over the years – as these... -
Jan Taylor made a comment
Live mentoring makes courses so much more worthwhile -' good to meet a team with such an interesting range of specialities!
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
This sounds like a really interesting three weeks- especially as it explores some of the "paper (parchment?) work" related to the events and lives of the period.
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
@EileenToll I take it he's a hedgehog then! Thank you so much for your many encouraging responses to my comments. I hope you have enjoyed the course. Perhaps we will meet gain!
-
Jan Taylor replied to Chris Johnston
@ChrisJohnston It wasn't all "Angel in the House" ( and yes,I kow that's
a Victorian invention) There were some really feisty ladies of letters in Johnson's day and in his circle. If you want a really funny take on the world of the 18th century novel try "The Female Quixote" (1752) by Charlotte Lennox - get it on Gutenberg or archive.org. She was a friend of... -
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
@JenniferSmart Thank you - it's always heartening to find that one's thoughts are in line with someone else's!
-
Jan Taylor replied to Jan Taylor
@JanetP Yes,I certainly agree that this is Pekuah's story more than the others .
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
Literature is full of journeys and quests from earliest myths to The Land of Oz and beyond .The obvious comparison is "Candide". However something that separates Rasselas from many of the others seems to me to be the relative passivity of the principal characters. Other literary "seekers" are forced to undergo many trials and "adventures" before they are...
-
Jan Taylor made a comment
6 impossible questions (at least when limited to 1200 characters and one lifetime) As ever though, literature helps.
"There is no use trying" said Alice "One can't believe impossible things" "I dare say you haven't had much practice" said the Queen When I was your age I always did it for half an hour a day. Why sometimes I've believed as many as six... -
Jan Taylor replied to Hamish Morrison
@HamishMorrison As a retired F.E tutor myself, I am not aware that it is in a course leader's remit to pass judgemental statements on others, as has happened a number of times, but to present the material in a factual, unbiased manner allowing participants to develop their own responses and opinions.
