According to Merriam-Webster, the first use of the word ‘ruffian’ was in approximately 1525. The Gutenberg printing press had been invented less than one hundred years before. These are two entirely distinct facts. Excerpt taken from: Caledonian Mercury, 6 Jan. 1800. British Library Newspapers, accessed via National Library of Scotland membership.
Category: The Newspaper Project
Heritable Security
An alternative to the current mortgage market? Excerpt taken from: Caledonian Mercury, 6 Jan. 1800. British Library Newspapers, accessed via National Library of Scotland membership.
A New Biographical Dictionary
There is so much in this, but every time I read it I just keep saying, “half a crown was a lot of money in those days!” to myself. To explain this: when we were younger, we had a Ladybird abridged version of “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, which came with an accompanying cassette …
Shumack and Lamb Skins
That font of knowledge, Wiktionary, suggests that ‘shumack’ is the obsolete way of spelling ‘sumac’, a shrub or spice. Can anyone verify this? Excerpt taken from: Caledonian Mercury, 4 Jan. 1800. British Library Newspapers, accessed via National Library of Scotland membership.
The Pleasures of Hope
This “small octavo, ornamented with engravings”, written by THOMAS CAMPBELL, is offered for sale for 6s. This is the second edition, and has been corrected and enlarged. Various other literary delights may also be had, not least Lady Grange’s epistle, written “during her confinement in the Island of St Kilda”. And “speedily will be published, …
To Be Sold
I want to know more. Excerpt taken from: Caledonian Mercury, 4 Jan. 1800. British Library Newspapers, accessed via National Library of Scotland membership.