Wednesday 29 April 2009

A book about Britain, a bath and a birthday


I woke up very, very early this morning on the rare convergence of my day off (now moved to Wednesday because of my responsibilities on Sunday Evening and Saturday Church) and my birthday (yes - the older I get the more I like to talk about it).

For the last hour I have been reading from a great book: Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World (apologies to my American readers ;) ). This morning I actually have been reading it in the bath. How very English!!!!!

So far I have been taken back and shown how Britain established its empire by stealing from the Spanish, copying the financial strength of the Dutch, winning against the French and exploiting the Indians. Their domestic economy was in part driven by a sugar rush - a huge consumer interest in sugar, tea, coffee, tobacco, silk and callico. On the way through this journey, I have picked up little gems like these:

1. The word "company" was actually a shortening for "company of adventurers". Like "The Honourable Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson's Bay" aka "The Hudson Bay Trading Company". Perhaps in this sense our churches are "companies". ;) "The Daring Company of Adventurers in Jannali Caring for the Soules of the Saints and Reaching the Lost in the Westerly Partes of the Southerland Shire of Sydney". However I should say that these companies were not so honourable nor egalitarian. Spin doctors were alive back then.

2. Ye olde advertising was so quaint. Can you guess what very English product Thomas Garraway claimed in the 1650s could cure:
"Headache, Stone, Gravel, Dropsy, Liptitude, Distillations, Scurvy, Sleepiness, Loss of Memory, Looseness or Griping of the Guts, Heavy Dreams and Collick proceeding from wind" ?  (It sounds like he's making up a few of these!)

I'm really enjoying my day so far (it is only 5am). Thank you Lord for days for refreshing and encouragement. I can't wait until the family wakes up.

15 comments:

Ruth said...

Happy Birthday AB !!!

Is the product was cod liver oil??...

Ruth said...

Oh, and I loved your post, made me laugh so much. Hope you don't get too tired today from such an early start! I love you so much. :-)


(check my blog for a message to you)

Tim Pinnock said...

Happy Birthday Andrew ;-)

Mark said...

Happy birthday Andrew. Have a great day bro!

Mark said...

Is this how you and Ruth communicate? By blog? ; )

RodeoClown said...

Happy Birthday Captain Andrew of The Daring Company of Adventurers in Jannali Caring for the Soules of the Saints and Reaching the Lost in the Westerly Partes of the Southerland Shire of Sydney Particularly Meeting Upon the Evening of Saturdays.

I've prayed you have a great day!

Ben McLaughlin said...

Happy birthday brother!

Di said...

Happy Birthday Andrew and thanks for your blog ministry.

I suppose you will be having an afternoon nap about now!

Unknown said...

Hi everyone. Thanks for the well wishes! I appreciate them a lot.

BTW. Ruth, it's not cod liver oil. Any other guesses?

Di said...

a cuppa tea?

Unknown said...

Well done Di. It is tea. Do you have a medical background?

"Headache, Stone, Gravel, Dropsy, Liptitude, Distillations, Scurvy, Sleepiness, Loss of Memory, Looseness or Griping of the Guts, Heavy Dreams and Collick proceeding from wind"

is a pretty amazing list of medicinal benefits. ;)

Di said...

It's Britain!!

Dominic said...

Happy Birthay Andrew! Cheers, Dominic

Unknown said...

Thanks everyone!

Peter Kirsop said...

As was said correctly as little as 40 years ago, "the Empire on which the sun never sets"

Because not even God trusted the British in the dark