Thompson, E. P., 158
Thomson, James, 8
Thomson, John, 160
Thoreau, Henry David, 129, 130, 135
Thoresby, Ralph, 115, 264
“Thresher Labour, The” (Duck), 163
time divisions, 137–40, 339
ancient Roman, 137, 138
cried by nightwatch, 77–78, 79, 138, 293
dead of night in, 138–40
early bedtime and, 264
“first sleep” as, 302, 303
nature in telling of, 90–91, 138, 236
Timms, Ann, 164
Tiv people, 303
toads, 30
Togoland, 4
torches, 5, 40, 51, 67, 74, 108, 127, 129, 131, 210, 211
construction of, 124
touch, sense of, 110, 133–34, 192
Touching the Rock (Hull), 132
Towers, Anne, 92
Traitè de l’Education des Filles (Fénelon), 120–21
traveling, see excursions, nocturnal
Travers, Joshua, 236
treasure hunting, 238, 239
Treatise of Ghosts, A (Taillepied), 301
Trenchard, John, 100
trial nights, 202
trolls, 18
Tryon, Thomas, xxv, 312, 314
Trzecieski, Andrzej, 15
tuberculosis, 14
Tucker, George, 236
Tucker, Josiah, 173
Turner, Nat, 257
Turner, Thomas, 146, 186, 198, 266, 271
Turpin, Dick, 34
Tusser, Thomas, 52, 106, 163, 165, 266, 297
Twelve Tables, 84, 87
Twenty-third Psalm, 4
twilight rest, 109
Two Queens of Brentford, The (D’Urfey), 211
Ufficiali di Notte, 85
Unfortunate Lovers, The, 302
United Irishmen, 257
Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure, 130
Universal Passion, The (Miller), 262
upper classes, 45, 156, 210–26
assemblies of, 212–13, 328
banquets of, 210, 212
broken sleep and, 304
carriage promenades of, 212
carrying weapons as privilege of, 66
ceremonious conduct of, 214, 215, 220
communal sleep as viewed by, 280, 281
as courtiers, 211, 214, 217, 226
drinking by, 210
elegance of, 212
“late hours” of, 304
lower classes envied by, 214, 216, 218–19
nocturnal funerals of, 213
pleasure gardens of, 212, 222, 328, 329
poaching on lands of, 33, 241–42, 243–44, 306, 336
solitary sleep of, 297
theaters of, 211, 328–29
see also libertines, aristocratic; masquerades
urinals, 296–97
fireplaces as, 297, 305
vagabonds, 54–55, 150
beds of, 278
social ties of, 252
vagrants, 36, 63, 65, 79, 80, 231, 234, 241
beds of, 278
magical invisibility desired by, 151
punishment of, 151
“valley of the shadow of death,” 4
vampires, 19
Vanbrugh, Sir John, 297
vandalism, 74, 224, 329, 336, 337
of youth gangs, 246–47, 248
van der Heyden, Jan, 72
van der Neer, Aert, 118
van der Poel, Egbert, 50
van der Vinne, Vincent, 121
van de Velde, Essaias, 39
van Honthorst, Gerrit, 114, 295
van Ostade, Adriaen, 190
Vaughan, William, 263
Vauxhall Gardens, 212, 222
Venice, 8, 72
burglaries in, 39
codeghe in, 125
Council of Ten of, 67
filthy streets of, 27
Grand Canal of, 26, 43
Jewish ghettos in, 65
market days of, 172
murders in, 43
night courts of, 85
nocturnal labor in, 160
pilfering in, 175
prostitution in, 244
strangers in, 65
watchmen of, 70
Venner, Tobias, 305
Venus and Adonis (Shakespeare), 127
Verbeecq, Hermanus, 112
veterinarians, 64
Vienna, 34, 65, 73
Vieuxville, abbé de la, 230
Vikings, 5
villages:
demonic beings in, 16–18, 140
family treasure buried in, 94
fires in, 50–51, 54
nightwatch of, 76
pilfering in, 240
walls of, 62
watchdogs of, 95
young people of, 196
youth gangs’ vandalism of, 246–47
Villon, François, 92, 278
violence, 33, 42–47, 66, 79, 142, 180, 329
against anonymous foes, 46
of bakers, 175
in burglaries, 37, 38, 40
domestic, in communal sleep, 282, 283–84
in dreams, 316, 319–20
at festivals, 152
impulsive, 44–47
of libertines, 223–26
night as safety valve for, 80, 254–55, 256
organized, of insurgents, 256–58
of prostitutes, 245
of street mobs, 254
tavern brawls, 46–47, 220, 223
see also murder, murderers; youth gangs
Virgil, 168, 303
Virgin Mary, 71–72, 143
Vlack, Gerard, 53
Wade, John, 311
wafts, 18
Waite, Thomas, 192
Wales, 18
bundling in, 197, 199, 200–201
candle coal from, 102–3
collieries of, 24
cyfarwydd in, 180
livestock brought indoors in, 279
squatters in, 238
y noswaith weu in, 178
Walpole, Horace, 106, 216
Waltham Blacks, 256–57
Ward, Ned, 80, 277
Ward, Seth, 305
Washington, George, 241, 256, 271
watch-bills, 77
watch coats, 136
watchdogs, 95–97
poisoning of, 97
proper qualities of, 96
watch-houses, 77, 80, 83
“Watching Unto God in the Night Season” (Cowper), 308
watchmen, see nightwatch
“Watch-mens Song,” 82–83
Watson, Elkanah, 143
Watt, James, 329
Watts, Isaac, 24, 33
Wauch, Mansie, 319–20
weapons, 34, 43, 66, 77, 94–95, 142, 172
weather forecasting, 170–71
weaving, 160, 164, 173
Weber, Max, 325
Webster, John, 23
Wedgwood, Josiah, 329
Wehr, Dr. Thomas, 303–4, 323
Weinsberg, Herman, 138
Welch Heiress, The (Jernigham), 283
“welcome nights,” 202
wells, drownings in, 28
werewolves, 19, 143, 246
West, William, 255
West Indies, 176–77, 257–58
Westminster Magazine, 150, 267
> Weyer, Johann, 23
whale oil, 104–6, 330–31
Whaley, John, 322
Wheatcroft, Leonard, 197, 198
whistling in the dark, 143
White, Gilbert, 107, 133
White Boys, 258
Whole Duty of Man, The, 264
Wife of Bath, 163
Wiggers, Dean Henri, 220
wild animals, 28–30
as farm predators, 171–72
Satan’s links to, 30
sleep of, 290, 303
Wilkinson, James, 24–25
Wilkinson, John, 190
Wilkinson, Richard, 255
Wilks, John, 243
Willett, Deb, 193
William the Conqueror, 63
will-o’-the-wisps, 18, 22, 23, 180
wills, 84
beds in, 274
Wilton dog, 19
windows, 17, 99, 158, 246, 293
barred, 93
burglaries and, 37
curtained, 150, 270
glazed, 93, 274, 292
illuminated, 29, 63–64, 68–69, 199, 254
shut, illness and, 14–15
shuttered, 93
wine, 25, 187, 188, 191, 235
Winthrop, John, 313
Wirsung, Christof, 286
witch-bottles, 99
witches, 16, 19–22, 48, 120, 121, 122, 140, 238, 239–40, 325
African, 4
benandanti and, 319
broken sleep and, 307
crimes attributed to, 21–22
hunts for, 19–20, 22, 240
magical protection against, 143
magic of, 21, 307
Roman strix, 4
sabbaths of, 21, 22, 183
Satan’s covenant with, 21
sleep disturbed by, 292
white, 98
witch-steeans, 100
Wither, George, 301
Withey, James, 18–19
Wodrow, Robert, 262
wolves, 30, 171–72, 229
“Woman’s Labour, The” (Collier), 306
“Woman’s Work is Never Done, A,” 163
women:
abusive husbands of, 183, 282, 284
adulterous, 193
as alehouse patrons, 190, 192
boulster lectures delivered by, 283, 283
clothing of, 67, 136
in communal sleep, 278–79, 281–84
curfews of, 65–66
genteel, illicit conduct of, 220–22
husbands murdered by, 283–84
libertines’ abuse of, 217, 223, 224, 225
literacy of, 203
magic and, 143, 183
at masquerades, 216, 221, 221
mishaps of, 26, 28
mutual support of, 183
as nightwatch members, 81
nightwatch’s arrest of, 80
nocturnal labor of, 160, 163–64, 173–74, 175, 177, 178–84, 305–6
unborn infants extracted from, 42
as vulnerable to lunacy, 12, 13
see also sexual activity; witches
wood:
as fuel, 102, 103
pilfering of, 240–41
Wood, Anthony, 44
Wood, Esay, 175
Wood, William, 5
Woodforde, Nancy, 129
Woodforde, Rev. James, 106, 113, 186
beer brewed by, 173–74
cold temperatures suffered by, 294
dreams of, 317
medications of, 112
nocturnal excursions of, 129, 131, 137
smuggled goods received by, 242–43
Woodlanders, The (Hardy), 91
Woodmash, Francis, 222
Woodward, George, 293
“works of darkness,” 4
Wright, Joseph, of Derby, 162, 206
Wright, Thomas, 207
Wrightson, Keith, 149
writing, 207–8
of nocturnal reflections, 310–11
Yalden, Thomas, 192, 282
Yates, Mary, 128
Yoruba people, 4
Young, Arthur, 134, 240
Young, Edward, 97, 153, 207
young people, 105, 192, 194–202, 232–35, 241–42
as nightwatch, 81
as poachers, 241–42
see also apprentices; courtship; youth gangs
youth dances, 196
youth gangs, 222, 245–52, 256
assaults by, 247–49, 250
gang rapes by, 247–48
middle-class targets of, 248
nightwatch and, 249–50, 252, 253
noisiness of, 245–46
power of, 249–50
social control exerted by, 253–54
social ties of, 252
vandalism of, 246–47, 248
Zompini, Gaetano, 160
Paul Bril, Fantastic Landscape, n.d.
Hieronymous Francken, Witches’ Kitchen, 1610
Philip James de Loutherbourg, Attack by Robbers at Night, ca. 1770
Egbert van der Poel, Fire in a Village at Night, 1655
Jacopo Bassano, Workshop of Weavers, sixteenth century
Anon., Ferry by Moonlight, n.d.
Gerrit van Honthorst, The Matchmaker, 1625
Cornelis Troost, Those Who Could Walk Did; the Others Fell, 1739
Leandro Bassano, Camp at Night, n.d.
Thomas Luny, Teignmouth by Moonlight, eighteenth century
David Teniers the Younger, The Invocation, seventeenth century
Giulio Carponi, The Kingdom of Hypnos, seventeenth century
Praise for At Day’s Close
A Discover Magazine Top Science Book of the Year, 2005
An Observer Book of the Year, 2005
“Professor Ekirch has produced a book of exceptional range and originality. His investigation of nocturnes in pre-modern civilization spans literature and social history, psychology and the history of thought. This is a pioneering achievement of a rare order. It truly casts light on absolutely vital spheres of darkness.”
—George Steiner
“What happened at night in times past? Who did what at night? How did people cope with darkness and the perils of violence and fire? What were the rhythms of sleep and the forms of nighttime sociability and intimacy? Ekirch illuminates the world of darkness in early modern Europe and America with clarity and rich documentation. At Day’s Close is the result of years of study, and it’s a revelation.”
—Bernard Bailyn, Harvard University,
Adams University Professor Emeritus
“For Ekirch, the night has been a hubbub of activity, a sequence of comings and goings, a bustling fiefdom with its own distinct customs and rituals. . . . To a remarkable degree, he has reclaimed that portion of the circadian cycle which historians have traditionally neglected. Ekirch has emptied night’s pockets, and laid the contents out before us. . . . At Day’s Close serves to remind us of night’s ancient mystery.”
—Arthur Krystal, The New Yorker
“An enthralling anthropology of the shadow realms of Western Europe from the late Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution. . . . [Ekirch] weaves his own Bayeux tapestry, but instead of stories of warrior bishops and court dwarfs, he wants to tell us about privacy and police power, torture and summary courts, the physiology of sleep, the sociology of prostitution, and political and religious heresies. . . . An informed and passionate case against too much artificial light.”
—John Leonard, Harper’s
—David Wootton, London Review of Books
“Absorbing . . . fascinating. . . . [Ekirch] has plundered an extraordinary range of cross-cultural sources for his material, and he tells us about everything from witches to firefighting, architecture to domestic violence. . . . [A] monumental study.”
—Terry Eagleton, The Nation
“Engrossing, leisurely paced, and richly researched. . . . He provides fascinating insight into nocturnal labor. . . . A rich weave of citation and archival evidence, Ekirch’s narrative is rooted in the material realities of the past, evoking a bygone world of extreme physicality and pre-industrial survival stratagems.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A tour de force. Throwing shafts of light onto nocturnal life—its dangers, intimacies, rituals, rhythms, laboring patterns, class affiliations, and gradual transformation—reveals a whole new world only dimly seen before. Thanks to this pathbreaking and compelling work, pre-industrial nighttime now has a history.”
—Philip Morgan, Harry C. Black Professor of History,
Johns Hopkins University
“Delightful details fill Ekirch’s narrative of the night.”
—Discover
“To us today, nightfall is a time to turn on the lights. But of course it was not always so. Ekirch’s richly researched and entertaining study, At Day’s Close, reclaims for history the half of past lives that was lived at night: in partial or total darkness, at work and at play, in stillness and in motion, in solitude or in shared reflection. Perfect reading for insomniacs and star-gazers alike.”
—Jonathan Spence, Sterling Professor of History, Yale University
“Night and day Ekirch’s history of darkness is the one—massive, original, and completely enlightening.”
—Steven Ozment, McLean Professor of Ancient
and Modern History, Harvard University
“A fresh and thought-provoking cultural inquiry. . . . Maintaining throughout an infectious sense of wonder, Ekirch ignites the reader’s imagination. . . . [He] vividly evokes the old magic of true night.”
—Donna Seaman, Booklist, starred review
“A wonderfully monomaniacal undertaking: a study of how night affected (mainly) European societies before the advent of street and, in certain instances, domestic lighting. Ekirch is folklorist, criminologist, psychologist. The mass of graphic detail is gripping.”
—Jonathan Meades, The Observer
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