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The following diary entries come from Roger Morrice, puritan
clergyman turned political reporter, who chronicled public
affairs between 1677 and 1691. For nearly 300 years his
Entrying book lay neglected on the dusty shelves of Dr Williams's
Library in London, the principal archive of Protestant non-conformity.
Read a selection of these exclusive diary entries.
17 August 1689: A mob was up to day in London. Ten or twelve thousand that are concerned in the silk trade, finding parliament ready to pass a bill requiring wool to be worn about half the year, crowded up to Westminster Hall where MPs sit. And they were joined by thousands of women.
Roger
Morrice
Dr Williams's Library
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It sang a king out of three kingdoms! That's what they said about
"Lillibulero", the 17th century satire whose words and
music spread like wildfire throughout England and Ireland during
the struggle for the British crown between James II and William
III.
Every soldier bawled out its anti-Jacobite sentiments and William's
supporters whistled and hummed its catchy melody. . But the Williamite
bishop, Gilbert Burnet, didn't seem to approve. He wrote in his
diary, "A foolish ballad was made at that time - treating
the Papists and chiefly the Irish, in a very ridiculous manner".
The song pilloried Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell, a staunch
supporter of the Catholic King James. It was written by Lord Thomas
Wharton and set to an older melody arranged by Henry Purcell.
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