Feb 26, 2008 16:52
*cracking UP*
Oh man. I'm reading Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies, which is, in essence, an almanac of Covent Garden prostitutes from the 1750s to the 1790s.
1) The descriptions of the prostitutes are kind of awesome. Example (in the category of "Clergymen's Belles"):
She has for some time been wavering with respect to religion, and a certain Methodist preacher has taken great pains to make a convert of her, but a roman catholic priest, who visits her a la sourdine, countermines in the evening all his rival's operations in the morning; so that between Methodism and Popery, she is a skiff upon the ocean tossed, and can not find a safe port to anchor in.
See? AWESOME.
2) Apparently "cull/cully" is slang for a john, which means that Kim has been a LOT more insulting towards guys in Milliways than I realized, which for some reason I find totally hilarious. Probably because nobody in Milliways has any idea.
I LOVE THIS CLASS. Over break I think I'm gonna type up my notes on pickpockets and prostitutes and share them with interested parties.
cmu,
milliways,
geeky,
literary