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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Aug 5

No crowdsourcing for this one - a small group of researchers/paleographers at Northwestern. We started with our own transcriptions, and eventually used model generated transcriptions that we then corrected & fed back in.

Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Aug 4

Happy to announce that the #Transkribus model I've had the pleasure of working on for the last few years is live! It is built on a variety of hands used in English courts around 1530-1650 (just hit over 1 mil words in the training set!) Take a look: #earlymodern app.transkribus.org/models/publi...

Egerton: English Secretary Hand

This model transcribes English secretary hand, which was in use during the 16th and 17th centuries. The model was primarily, but not exclusively, trained on equity court material from the National Arc...

app.transkribus.org

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Aug 3

It appears as a landmark in this deposition from 1574, as Mistress Buckfolde purchased about 30£ of silk and returned to her dwelling "by the great Condit in Chepeside" [TNA E133/2/230]

handwritten document, ink on paper, in secretary hand with the transcription typed below. "the names of Spaynishe silke and ferrett silke vnto one mistress Buckfolde dwelling by the greate Condit in Chepeside / And this deponent whent home..."

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Aug 3

According to fleetstreetheritage.co.uk, "When Anne Boleyn processed from the tower to her coronation...the Conduit was reported to be flowing with wine...and another pageant was held there for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation...[it] was also a favoured place for the posting of proclamations."

The Heritage of Fleet Street

fleetstreetheritage.co.uk

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Aug 3

Today in random London history landmarks: The Great Conduit. Construction began in 1245, and it stood until it was damaged in the Great Fire and then removed. Now it is marked by a plaque in front of a Tesco #earlymodern #skystorians [photo from www.londonremembers.com/memorials/gr... ]

Drawing of the Great Conduit, next to The Cheapside Cross. Guildhall Library & Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty

Photograph of current day Tesco in London. Square on sidewalk marks the spot where the Conduit once stood.

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Jun 21

I have been casually using #earlymodern expressions in front of my elementary aged kids in the hopes of someday hearing something about "the hurly burly" instead of "six SEVEN" ad nauseam. This is a long term project but I have high hopes for it. Any other good expressions I should use? #skystorians

secretary hand ink on paper, "and in the hurly burly master munces man went a waye with the Truse vnder his Cloke" [TNA E 133/1/160]

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · May 11

Happy Mother's Day, particularly to Catherine Moyle, who said she loved her son Sir Moyle Finch's "little fynger more then any other of her sonnes" [TNA C24/256A] #earlymodern #skystorians

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Mar 25

I will never tire of these charming little details in #earlymodern court records. "the same yeveninge in the said Cittie." Maybe calling back to the Old English geǣfnian? Or a quirk of pronunciation almost like an elision with "same" #linguistics #wordnerd

secretary hand, ink on parchment. "the same yeveninge" TNA STAC5/W48

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Mar 25

A stitched doublet is less clear to me - maybe something like a gambeson or padded doublet? www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...

Jerkin | Western European | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

www.metmuseum.org

Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Mar 25

Privy coat appears in the OED - dated to the early 1500s, "An armoured coat (usually of chain mail) worn concealed under ordinary clothing"

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Mar 25

A court tries to determine premeditation (among other things) by asking if the men involved in a riot were wearing "p[ri]veye Coates stiched doubletes or Coates of defence." #earlymodern #materialculture #skystorians

Secretary hand document, ink on parchment, "p[ri]vey Coates stiched doubletes or Coates of defence" TNA STAC5/W48

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Mar 20

Of course! Thank you!! I got it in my head that it would be a holiday of some kind, but a weekday makes much more sense with sevenight.

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Mar 20

"at this p[resent] and it was at [strikethrough] ^aboute / <???> last was ^a sevenight". The other reference of time in this document is Lent, but no guarantees this day was nearby. I see "gandaye" but I don't know what that means.

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Mar 20

Any ventures on this word? This is a particularly bad London deposition scribe that I have grown pretty accustomed to, but he still stumps me pretty regularly. Full line in the comments, more images upon request. #earlymodern #paleography

1500s handwriting, ink on paper, "<???> last" STAC5/H59/37

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Mar 20

A good week for invective! "rioto, evill, and light disposid persons" A brief search didn't turn "light disposed" up, but the idea seems to be about people that were unserious or undisciplined. #earlymodern #palaeography #skystorians

secretary hand document, pen on parchment, "and light disposid p[er]sons" TNA STAC5/H59/36

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Mar 18

www.folger.edu/blogs/shakes...

Birds of Shakespeare: The carrion crow | Folger Shakespeare Library

Folger Shakespeare Library is the world's largest Shakespeare collection, the ultimate resource for exploring Shakespeare and his world. Shakespeare belongs to you. His world is vast. Come explore. Jo...

www.folger.edu

Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Mar 18

#earlymodern insult of the day: "crow keepers" - an insult that is also found in Shakespeare's King Lear. Crow keepers were usually young boys that practiced their amateur archery skills while keeping the birds off the crops. According to this Folger post it is an insult to someone's archery skills.

secretary hand document that reads "termed them rascalls Cowardes and crowe keepers," TNA STAC5/A46

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Feb 7

Would love to hear what he thinks! Thanks!

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Feb 7

If the original grant mentioned was extant, maybe matching that language was important? I'm transcribing it to train a Transkribus model rather than researching the specific case, so others might have more informed thoughts. Most of our files are 1590 so I assumed an earlier date, but this is 1608.

Short title: Elkington v Palmer. Plaintiffs: Humphrey Elkington, alderman of Malmesbury... | The National ArchivesThe National ArchivesThe National ArchivesOpen Government LicenceGOV.UK

The official archive of the UK government. Our vision is to lead and transform information management, guarantee the survival of today's information for tomorrow and bring history to life for everyone...

discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Feb 7

I wonder if the phrasing has to do with the original grant from Athelstan that the case is referring to. I haven't seen it, but "King of the English" (rex Anglorum) was a title used for Athelstan through John. I think the specificity from the scribe in the 1600s is interesting.

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Feb 6

Pretty cool to see a case in Malmesbury in the 1500s cite a gift granted by Athelstan, "sometymes kinge" about 500 years previously. Also enjoying this scribe's decision to change "kinge of England" to "kinge of the Englishemen." Scope of memory in this case is fascinating. #earlymodern #skystorians

secretary hand on paper, handwriting reads "sometymes kinge of England" with "England" struck through and replaced by "the Englishemen"

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Jan 28

The first rule of London deposition hand club is, "we don't acknowledge minims" (is this the most uselessly niche reference using the overused Fight Club mantra?) #paleography #earlymodern #skystorians

a nearly flat line that actually says "mencioned in"

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Jan 22

It is just in this little alcove on Cannon Street, right across from Cannon Street station. It hasn’t moved far in the last 1,000 years and was kept through the great fire & the bombing of St Swithins church. The MoEML has a great page on it: mapoflondon.uvic.ca/LOND2.htm?ss...

MoEML: London Stone

The Map of Early Modern London (MoEML) comprises four distinct, interoperable projects. MoEML began in 1999 as a digital atlas of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century London based on the 1560s Agas wood...

https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/LOND2.htm?ssMark=Swithin’s#d941e2611

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Jan 21

I grew up near Plymouth Rock so I have an innate appreciation for underwhelming rock monuments. Here I am being (presumably) the only person excited to take a selfie with London Stone this year. And a record of Giles Francis, who had a house beside the stone in 1595. #earlymodern #skystorians

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Julianna Bratt @bjulianna.bsky.social · Dec 5

First eel sighting! Our dataset is now nearing 1 mil words, & I finally have a small offering for @greenleejw.bsky.social. A passing mention in a deposition "nether hathe he knowne any fishe ether putt in or taken out of that place, except it were a fewe eyles when the watercourse was clensed."

"a fewe eyles" in secretary hand script on paper (UK NA C24/256A)