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1731.—Gray’s Inn Hall. o [more...] |
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1733.—The Whirligig A cage for punishemt: the offender was put inside and then the cage was spun round rapidly, often for a long time (perhaps all day). This would make the victim sick or even unconscious. In the mean-time [...] [more...] |
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1734.—Man and Woman in Stocks. “A stockes to staye sure and safely detayne |
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1735.—The Brank “Scolds had their heads inclosed [sic] in a sugarloaf-shapred cap, made of iron hooping, with a cross at the top, and a flat piece of iron projecting inwards, that was laid upon the tongue; a string was attached behind, and by that the scold was led through the streets. The Brank (Fig. 1735), as this invention was named, seems to have been in common [...] [more...] |
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1736.—Genings and Blunt Nicholas Blunt was a Counterfeit Crank; that is, he pretended to be a sick person who went by the name of Nicholas Genings. The man pictured here (in and out of disguise) was caught, and “whip’t at a cart’s tail” through London. The account of ‘Caveat, or Warning for Common Cursetors, vulgarly called Vagabonds’ by Harman, quoted by the [...] [more...] |
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1787.—Hunting. Men hunting deer with dogs and horses. In the background a church steeple, reminding us that this is supposed to be a typical country scene. |
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1788.—Hawking. “There was one sport exclusively confined to the noble and wealthy orders of society—hawking—which chiefly flourished and declined during the present period [the first half of the 17th century]. To a people who found habitually much more of pleasure than of pain or annoyance in the overcoming of difficulties, and who retaine dmuch of what our phrenologiests [...]not smothered—that’s enough; so on he goes with greater zest than ever from the excitement of the check.” (p. 126) [more...] |
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1789.—The Grand Falconer The Grand Falconer is an hereditary position that dates from medieval times, and belongs to the Duke of St. Albans. The man shown here wears a Middle-Eastern-style head-dress with a diadem and carries a scimitar. At his feet a dog, and in the background a castle, symbol of [...] [more...] |
