Hi Audrey, Given that the letter writer was looking for crow quills, this could perhaps have been a reference to the frigate bird. The term man of war was also applied to the albatross and to the skua. Those three at least would have had reasonably large feathers, somewhat lacking in a jelly fish. :-)) The Portugese man-of-war was so called because it floats on the surface of the sea with a sail-like crest displayed. Liz in Melbourne Quoting "norman.lee1" <norman.lee1@virgin.net>: > Don't know if this is any help at all but there is a type of jelly fish > called 'Portuguese man of war'. It could be that there other 'men of war' in > other parts of nature. I've no idea why these jelly fish are so called, only > that they are very poisonous and you have to avoid touching them. > > Audrey > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "E & R Shanahan" <ears@gil.com.au> > To: <OLD-ENGLISH-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 12:43 AM > Subject: [OEL] quill pens query > > > > Here is a good question for the list members... > > We have just bought a letter of 1806, written from Carnock Manse in > > Scotland to a brother in Edinburgh, and it includes this intriguing > sentence > > > > quote > > We have had pretty good weather and the harvest is just about beginning. > > We are traversing the hills every day seeking Crow quills but can find no > > Men O' War, but plenty of small. > > unquote > > > > Does anyone know of this kind of designation for quills - was there a > > general standard for sizing them? We had not realised that crow quills > > would have been used, as most mentions we have seen are to goose quills, > > but suppose that any good large feather would provide a source for a pen. > > > > any information appreciated > > Eunice and Ron in Queensland > >

Hi Liz Thanks a lot for this info. I have to say that the only examples of the jelly fish were floating on the edge of the tide off the coast of Kent. I don't remember the sail-like fin. It was more the purple-veined tentacles that distinguished them from the clear jelly-like blobs of the common ones that used to appear after a stormy night, stranded on the tide-line. We were always told not to touch them and became quite frightened as they could wash against your legs if you didn't spot them first. I can't say that I like jelly-fish, full stop. Even the blobs could sting a bit, rather like a stinging nettle. Why Portuguese? Possibly they were supposed to come from that country and had travelled up from the Bay of Biscay, the seat of many a storm? Perhaps they breed off the the Portuguese coast? So it would seem that the quills of the men of war belonged to the vicious sea birds that may have congregated around the moors near the Scottish coast. I believe that skuas can be quite nasty when disturbed and those looking for the crow quills may have had to endure a few attacks from them. It would seem that the crow quills were preferred to the others though. I'd have thought that they would have been fairly prolific, if you include rooks with the other types of crow, and jackdaws - all in the crow family. Audrey ----- Original Message ----- From: <emagar@hotkey.net.au> To: <OLD-ENGLISH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, July 25, 2004 7:52 AM Subject: Re: [OEL] quill pens query > Hi Audrey, > > Given that the letter writer was looking for crow quills, this could perhaps > have been a reference to the frigate bird. The term man of war was also > applied to the albatross and to the skua. Those three at least would have > had reasonably large feathers, somewhat lacking in a jelly fish. :-)) > > The Portugese man-of-war was so called because it floats on the surface of > the sea with a sail-like crest displayed. > > Liz in Melbourne > > Quoting "norman.lee1" <norman.lee1@virgin.net>: > > > Don't know if this is any help at all but there is a type of jelly fish > > called 'Portuguese man of war'. It could be that there other 'men of war' in > > other parts of nature. I've no idea why these jelly fish are so called, only > > that they are very poisonous and you have to avoid touching them. > > > > Audrey > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "E & R Shanahan" <ears@gil.com.au> > > To: <OLD-ENGLISH-L@rootsweb.com> > > Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 12:43 AM > > Subject: [OEL] quill pens query > > > > > > > Here is a good question for the list members... > > > We have just bought a letter of 1806, written from Carnock Manse in > > > Scotland to a brother in Edinburgh, and it includes this intriguing > > sentence > > > > > > quote > > > We have had pretty good weather and the harvest is just about beginning. > > > We are traversing the hills every day seeking Crow quills but can find no > > > Men O' War, but plenty of small. > > > unquote > > > > > > Does anyone know of this kind of designation for quills - was there a > > > general standard for sizing them? We had not realised that crow quills > > > would have been used, as most mentions we have seen are to goose quills, > > > but suppose that any good large feather would provide a source for a pen. > > > > > > any information appreciated > > > Eunice and Ron in Queensland > > > > > > ==== OLD-ENGLISH Mailing List ==== > OLD-ENGLISH Web Page > http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~oel/ > >