Даниэль Дефо: History of the Plague in London

Linen collar or ruff.

Him.

The interlude was originally a short, humorous play acted in the midst of a morality play to relieve the tedium of that very tedious performance. From the interlude was developed farce; and from farce, comedy.

Charles II. and his courtiers, from their long exile in France, brought back to England with them French fashions in literature and in art.

To be acted.

Buffoons, clowns.

About 62½ cents.

About twenty–five dollars; but the purchasing power of money was then seven or eight times what it is now.

Strictly speaking, this word means "love potions."

Exorcism is the act of expelling evil spirits, or the formula used in the act. Defoe's use of the word here is careless and inaccurate.

Bits of metal, parchment, etc., worn as charms.

Making the sign of the cross.

Paper on which were marked the signs of the zodiac,—a superstition from astrology.

A meaningless word used in incantations. Originally the name of a Syrian deity.

Iesus Hominum Salvator ("Jesus, Savior of Men"). The order of the Jesuits was founded by Ignatius de Loyola in 1534.

The Feast of St. Michael, Sept. 29.

This use of "to" for "of" is frequent with Defoe.

The Royal College of Physicians was founded by Thomas Linacre, physician to Henry VIII. Nearly every London physician of prominence is a member.

The city of London proper lies entirely in the county of Middlesex.

Literally, "hand workers;" now contracted into "surgeons."

Cares, duties.

Consenting knowledge.

Disposed of to the public, put in circulation.

That is, by the disease.

Happen.

Engaged.

Heaps of rubbish.

A kind of parish constable.

The writer seems to mean that the beggars are so importunate, there is no avoiding them.

Fights between dogs and bears. This was not declared a criminal offense in England until 1835.

Contests with sword and shield.

The guilds or organizations of tradesmen, such as the goldsmiths, the fishmongers, the merchant tailors.

St. Katherine's by the Tower.

Trinity (east of the) Minories. The Minories (a street running north from the Tower) was so designated from an abbey of St. Clare nuns called Minoresses. They took their name from that of the Franciscan Order, Fratres Minores, or Lesser Brethren.

St. Luke's.

St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate.

St. Giles's, Cripplegate.

Were.

Chemise.

This word is misplaced; it should go before "perish."

Before "having," supply "the master."

Fences.

From.

This old form for "caught" is used frequently by Defoe.

Came to grief.

"Who, being," etc., i.e., who, although single men, had yet staid.

The wars of the Commonwealth or of the Puritan Revolution, 1640–52.

Holland and Belgium.

"Hurt of," a common form of expression used in Defoe's time.

Manager, economist. This meaning of "husband" is obsolete.

A participial form of expression very common in Old English, the "a" being a corruption of "in" or "on."

Were.

"'Name of God," i.e., in the name of God.

Torches.

"To and again," i.e., to and fro.

Were.

As if.

Magpie.

This word is from the same root as "lamp." The old form "lanthorn" crept in from the custom of making the sides of a lantern of horn.

Supply "be."

Inclination.

In expectation of the time when.

Their being checked.

This paragraph could hardly have been more clumsily expressed. It will be found a useful exercise to rewrite it.

"To have gone," i.e., to go.

Spotted.

"Make shift," i.e., endure it.

Device, expedient.

"In all" is evidently a repetition.

Objects cannot very well happen. Defoe must mean, "the many dismal sights I saw as I went about the streets."

As.

"Rosin" is a long–established misspelling for "resin." Resin exudes from pine trees, and from it the oil of turpentine is separated by distillation.

As distinguished from fish meat.

Defoe uses these pronouns in the wrong number, as in numerous other instances.

The projecting part of a building.

Their miraculous preservation was wrought by their keeping in the fresh air of the open fields. It seems curious that after this object lesson the physicians persisted in their absurd policy of shutting up infected houses, thus practically condemning to death their inmates.

Used here for "this," as also in many other places.

Supply "with."

Such touches as this created a widespread and long–enduring belief that Defoe's fictitious diary was an authentic history.

"Running out," etc., i.e., losing their self–control.

Idiocy. In modern English, "idiotism" is the same as "idiom."

Gangrene, death of the soft tissues.

Before "that" supply "we have been told."

Hanging was at this time a common punishment for theft. In his novel Moll Flanders, Defoe has a vivid picture of the mental and physical sufferings of a woman who was sent to Newgate, and condemned to death, for stealing two pieces of silk.