Unusual lettering

[Wilkes_ml]

Hi. Just thought I'd share this piece of writing from the early 1700s. I'd never come across these "floating" characters or symbols before and found them interesting. I'm wondering if this style was common for the time period or were thes little symbols just a quirk of the person filling in the register.

The main symbol is the "u" above where the u should be, and another symbol above "m" in Samuel.

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc25/Wilkes_ml/Parish%20register%20pages/WhiteNotleyEssex1718-1719exampleoffloatingtextcropped_zps5f053885.jpg (http://s213.photobucket.com/user/Wilkes_ml/media/Parish%20register%20pages/WhiteNotleyEssex1718-1719exampleoffloatingtextcropped_zps5f053885.jpg.h tml)

[thewideeyedowl]

On second look at this, I am wondering whether those floating letters might -as you say - be a quirk of the writer. His 'u', 'n', and 'm' all look much the same, so when he checks through what he has written, he clarifies matters by popping the intended letter over the top. (To my eyes, he seems to be continually clarifying 'daughter' in case it is read as 'danghter'.) but this is open to other interpretations, I am sure.

TNA's guide on Palaeography is quite useful: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography/where_to_start.htm. If you scroll down that first page to Abbreviations, there is quite a lot about a dash/wavy line used to represent a letter that has been omitted - but the rule as to where you should place the mark seems to have been interpreted very loosely.

The ancestors love playing hard to get, don't they?!

Owl

[Wilkes_ml]

:smile5: Yes.

I just find hand writing over the years facinating. There were so many styles, and I love it when I come across a beautiful piece...I almost want to start collecting pieces as a form of art!

[christanel]

:smile5: Yes.

I just find hand writing over the years facinating. There were so many styles, and I love it when I come across a beautiful piece...I almost want to start collecting pieces as a form of art!

Oh don't even go there! Just because they are small and flat doesn't mean they won't over run the house. :biggrin:

Christina

[Wilkes_ml]

Yes...my office is already a piece of art...the pieces of paper are all littering the floor in a precice artistic manner :lol:

[peanut]

Hi

I found looking at the handwriting of my grand parents and other family members on the 1911 census fascinating I started to compare their signatures to mine, they certainly had a lovely hand wring skills, much nicer than my own

Peanut