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Whores of Yore

@WhoresofYore

10 Oct

Word of the Day: “Matelotage”

Need to Know More? Here’s a Thread! 🏴‍☠️

Matelotage was a same-sex civil union amongst pirates (also amongst sailors) whereby two men would form an economic partnership, share income & inherit each other’s property in the event of their death. They also pledged to fight alongside each other & to look out for one another

In his 1832 novel, Le Négrier, Édouard Corbière defines matelotage as, “this amatelotage of sailors among themselves, this hammock camaraderie, establishes a type of solidarity and commonality of interests and of goods between each man and his matelot.”

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Whores of Yore

@WhoresofYore

8 Oct

“Evidence concerning Witches and Apparitions” (1681) tells of a bewitched woman who was cured when she put her urine in a bottle “together with Pins & Needles & Nails”, corked it & “set the Bottle to the Fire”

This is one of the earliest references to a “witch bottle”

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Witch Bottles were spells / talismans to protect against witchcraft & cure those who had fallen to it. So far, over 100 of been found in Britain and less than a dozen have been found in America. This one was found buried in a civil war fort in Virginia.

They are usually found buried in the wall or the fireplace when an old house is being renovated or demolished. This one dates to the 17th century & was found near the Civil War Centre in Nottinghamshire.

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Whores of Yore

@WhoresofYore

25 Sep

This is the grave of 27 year old Betty Corrigal, who died in the 1770s. It lies between Hoy & North Walls in Orkney & has been called the loneliest grave in the world. Poor Betty could not be buried in consecrated ground.

Thread
CW: suicide

Not much is known about poor Betty but she lived in Greengairs Cottage near Rysa on Orkney. It is said she was seduced by a young man who got her pregnant & abandoned her soon after

The social shame of being pregnant outside of wedlock was so great that Betty was shunned by her family & community. The humiliation was so great, Betty took her own life before giving birth.

(George Frederic Watts, c.1850)

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Whores of Yore

@WhoresofYore

25 Jul

The expression “call a spade a spade” comes from the work of Plutarch, who originally wrote “call a fig a fig.” Fig was crude slang for the Vulva, so “call a c**t a c**t” is closer. Nicolas Udall translated the work in 1542 & changed it to a garden spade to avoid embarrassment.

Although Udall meant a regular, everyday garden spade, the expression is rightly falling out of use today because of the racist homonym, which dates to the 20th century. Personally, I’m all for bringing back “call a c**t a c**t.”

Read more here
👇

npr.org/sections/codes…

* Plutarch actually wrote “call a fig a fig and a trough a trough”. A trough has similar connotations but not as many pretty pictures available to illustrate to point in a tweet. This article on the origin of the phrase is brilliant. colvinism.wordpress.com/2013/09/04/cal…

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Whores of Yore

@WhoresofYore

24 Jul

Bog Bodies are cadavers preserved in peat bogs. The oldest known BB is Koelbjerg Man, who dates to 8000 BCE. The most famous is probably 2400yo Tollund Man (pictured). The Nazis were fascinated with them & used them to justify their persecution of LGBTQ+ ppl.

A thread

CW. Bodies & Nazis 🚨

The water in peat bogs is very acidic with no oxygen. These conditions mean any bodies in them are very well preserved. The acid bleaches the hair & tans the skin. Many died violent deaths & it’s unclear if this was ritualistic, punishment, or murder

(This is Grauballe Man)

Read 21 tweets

Whores of Yore

@WhoresofYore

8 Jul

“I never married because there was no need. I have three pets at home which answer the same purpose as a husband. I have a dog that growls every morning, a parrot that swears all afternoon, and a cat that comes home late at night.”

Novelist, Marie Corelli (1855-1924)

Glad to see Marie is getting some loving. Here are some interesting Marie facts.

She wrote romantic novels that were hugely popular but often derided by the intellectual elite as trashy & poorly written.

Critic, Grant Allen called her "a woman of deplorable talent who imagined that she was a genius, and was accepted as a genius by a public to whose commonplace sentimentalities and prejudices she gave a glamorous setting."

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