A letter from Jerard Gore to Anthony Williams. Send a spaniel, sugar, pipes, tobacco, 5 September 1623. Catalogue Ref: SP 46/66 f.24.
The letter mentions a muskmelon – a sweet fleshy melon, grown in the Mediterranean area in the Middle Ages. In the fifteenth century, the explorer Christopher Columbus carried seeds of muskmelon on one of his voyages to the Americas and planted it there. By the time this letter was written, muskmelon was being grown in English colonies in North America.
Transcript
London this 5th September 1623
Master. Williams my love remembred [remembered] Sr: According to
my promise I have sent you thise [these] few lines giving
you to understand that I haue [have] sent you by this
bearer Oranghorne the Spaniell [spaniel] I told you of, as
allso I have sent eight pounds of sugar for your
mother to preserve withall desiring you to accompt [account] of
it, I have likewise sent her a muskmelon in faire
[damaged, unreadable] dozen of
my best pipes & a small piece of tobacco in the boxe
which I pray drinke out for my sake, concerning the
particular I spoke unto you of if you can procure
if at your leisure [I] shall rest beholding unto you
news heere is not any certaine, and therefore unfitt any
such discourse thus with remembrance of my love
unto your father your mother Mr Carltonn and your best
beloved harlely [?] thanking you for any late kind
entertainment here I rest.
Your Loving Friend
Jerard Gore
Simplified transcript
Date: September 5th September 1633. Written in London.
Master Williams, as a sign of my love to you and according to my promise, I send you these gifts. I send you a Spaniel. I also send you eight pounds of sugar and a melon that your mother might like to use to in her cooking. I also send you twelve of my best pipes and a small piece of tobacco in a box which I ask you to use for my sake. With regard to the particular thing we spoke about, you can get it at your leisure. I have no real news, but mainly wanted to pass on my love to your father, your mother, Mr Carlton and Harlely(?) I thank you for the previous entertainment you gave me.
Your loving friend,
Jerard Gore.
- What is the date of this letter??
- What gifts is Jerard Gore giving to his friend Anthony Williams?
- How many pounds of sugar is Anthony Williams receiving? Do you think quantity is a lot?
- What does this letter tell us about sugar’s uses in the 1600s?
- What does this letter tell us about what type of people who might be cooking with sugar in the 1600s?
- What makes this letter different from the other types of sources in this lesson?