The Vulgar Tongue – Foot Wear

A vocabulary worth my pirates too… if the magistrate pays the fiddlers…

the brain melt blog

Selections from : THE VULGAR TONGUE, Buckish Slang and Pickpocket Eloquence, By FRANCINE PROSE, originally published in 1785

Foot wear

TROTTERS – Feet. To shake one’s trotters at Bilby’s ball, where the sheriff pays the fiddlers; perhaps the Bilboes ball, i.e. the ball of fetters; fetters and stocks were anciently called the bilboes.

Let me see if I can get this straight. Fetters are shackles tethered by a chain for the feet or ankles. Bilboes (always plural) were iron restraints placed on a person’s ankles or wrists. They consisted of a pair of “U”-shaped iron bars with holes in the ends, through which a bolt was inserted. So, are feet only Trotters when they’re clapped in irons? Were they otherwise known as Prancers or Strutters? Maybe even on occasion, Skippers?

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Another possible sight of Vikings

Another historical theory about Vikings having been a part of Latino-American history… This one is a bit Southwards than mine, and no Quetzalcoatl/ Kukulkan / Viracocha involved, but still an Ecuadorian legend which might have meant a lot…

How much of the history we are learning is science, and how much speculation, fertile soil for the pen of historical fiction (and sometimes historical fantasy) writers? How much of it is written by the victors?

We can’t even guess…

List of the Gods and Their Spirit Animals

Norse Spiritualism

It is important to note that there are in fact countless gods, most of which, obviously, whose names are long forgotten. The gods have been worshiped since the Bronze Age, and most of what our ancient ancestors knew they didn’t write down. The gods are a complex and supreme people, and are therefore not limited to one attribute. They are multifaceted; no god is bound to one attribute or characteristic. In addition, they each have countless names and titles. Morrigan for example, is the primary goddess of autumn and a goddess of death, and is her Celtic or Gaelic name; her Nordic name being lost to us. Odin and Frigga’s family tree are the most well known and well remembered gods. As mentioned throughout this site, names and labels are not as important as respect of nature (Yggdrasil), the gods, and what the gods represent and hold domain over. The…

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