Meanwhile, somewhere in the Siege of Fort St. Philip...

... two British soldiers are killed by carelessness and one injured by bad luck.

A lucky shot from the French, grazes the touch-hole of a British cannon. The cannon must have been loaded and ready to go, just needing to be turned towards the enemy and having fire put to the touch-hole. The enemy shot must have caused a spark as it grazed the touch-hole, thus firing the gun which injured a British soldier.

We shouldn't rush to award either of the following dead soldiers with the Darwin Award, for we do not know if either of them were responsible for sponging the gun. Sponging is done between one firing and the next. The aim is to remove any smouldering matter in the gun before the next charge is shoved in. If not done well, the new charge can ignite before time, as happened to the two unfortunate British soldiers in the excerpt above.

1756

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Meanwhile, somewhere in 18th century England, fireworks are "transitory and useless"

Often it seems that human nature never changes and - bar a few details - some complaints could be heard today. Aren't fireworks a waste of money? These huge displays along the Thames, on such a scale, surely the money could be put to better use. Well, this chap seems to think so in his letter of January 1749. However, just as now, not everyone shares his opinion. Certainly not the Duke of Richmond, who gave a grand entertainment to the Duke of Modena on Monday 15th May of the same year.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Poland...

...co kurwa? Where does Poland begin and end? The border has shifted all over the place! In the 18th century, there is a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Its borders encompass Lithuania, much of Latvia, Belarus, a good chunk of Ukraine and much of the Poland we know and love. Prussia has left teeth-marks on the Baltic coast and the western border wiggles around a bit and is generally a little further east. Słupsk, Koszalin, Szczecin, and Wrocław fall outside the border, but Gdańsk, Piła, Poznań and Katowice are within the Commonwealth. One administrative area of the Commonwealth, of culinary and linguistic interest to me, is: województwo ruskie, the Ruthenian Voivodeship. It's capital was Lwów, or Lviv as we know it today, and much of it is now in Ukraine. The dumplings filled with potato, cheese curd and onion, take their name from wój. ruskie, so pierogi ruskie were named after this area of the commonwealth and have noth...

Meanwhile, somewhere in 18th century...

...England (or, in fact, anywhere) things are going-on in parallel to a story I am writing. Perhaps these things will make their way into the story, but in my mind they are going on even if they don't get a mention. This research will add depth to the story and characters. Who am I kidding? This is a miscellany of distractions I have found that have piqued my interest while I should have been more efficient in my research for a story set mid 18th century. Perhaps you have a general interest in the eighteenth century, an obsession with it, or you too are looking for detail to add authenticity to your fiction. For whatever reason you have stumbled upon my notes. I hope they interest and amuse. You may already know, from reading texts written in the 1700s, that an additional s was used in print as well as the standard s . The long s looks like an f without its crossbar. Also, you will probably work out from context, that etcetera is ...

Meanwhile, somewhere in the 18th century...

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