The Diary of Nathaniel Bryceson (Part 8)

[Ruskie]

Nat actually writes: '..... Granny looking a fresh coloured dame of 70 while mother looks extremely aged as approaching 90.'  Reading between the lines he appears to be saying that his grandmother does not look her age but his mother looks 20 years older than granny.   

I'm sure that is what he is saying. 

And as Deb says, that his toothless 70 year old Granny is looking more healthy than his 49 year old mother, is very sad. We readers know that Mary won't die until next year and will be buried on the 29th of October. 

[drykid]

Today's entry is a nice example of Nat's wry sense of humour; I'll miss his wit 

[Ruskie]

So the father had to pay the money back?

Everyone knows Nat is a bit of a tight wad and would never have paid the Gray lad 3d for shovelling the coke ... or is that money supposed to have come from the Leas? I do think it seems a bit odd that Nathaniel says he had no recollection of this when you would expect him to remember such a thing and say he definitely didn't give him 3d. (If in fact he did not  )

[drykid]

It's a bit hard to follow to be honest, since Nat is more interested in making a joke of it than laying down the facts, but I think the 3d that Nat is supposed to have given him was just beer money and not (I think) the amount that was allegedly given to the lad for the coke that wasn't delivered.  I think the 3d might be something peripheral to the case that just ended up getting discussed anyway.  But I could very well be wrong.

Also presumably "I was but in as a witness" is a transcription error, since "put in" would make a whole lot more sense given that Nat is recounting things as if they were court proceedings.

[dee-jay]

And as Deb says, that his toothless 70 year old Granny is looking more healthy than his 49 year old mother, is very sad.

I thought that, buried somewhere in the previous threads, someone had established Granny's probable birth year, making her in her mid-seventies in 1846?  In 1851 Census she was recorded 80 .... 

Update:
According to Nat, Granny completed her 75th year on 14th June and celebrated the loss of her penultimate tooth!   

[steve_gus]

I read todays entry differently - perhaps im  daft?

Firstly, i dont see it as jokey humour. Reads seriously to me.

Secondly, the events could be read a different way.

The young lad might have been given the money by a customer after Lea SOLD the coke, and he didnt hand it over. The shovelling could have been 3d for helping out as a casual laborer.

Or, as seems to be interpreted, he was supposed to deliver the coke, but didnt, and the shovelling tip was proof he had, as it had been shovelled.

[drykid]

I read todays entry differently - perhaps im  daft?


Firstly, i dont see it as jokey humour. Reads seriously to me.

I'm sure you're not daft, but Nat is definitely writing things up in a fairly sardonic way by using legal terminology such as "trial by jury" / "prisoner" / "witness" which clearly only applies in a very figurative sense.  I'm fairly sure the lad wasn't held prisoner, and Lea's office definitely wasn't a court of law...

I've no doubt it was a very serious situation for the lad concerned.  But I think  it's also clear from the way that Nat writes it up that he wasn't very bothered personally.  Which shouldn't be that much of a surprise; he's already been scolded in the diary for not caring about the plight of his own dying mother.

[Ruskie]

As we've just started Page 20 of Part 8 it's just about time to lock this thread. I've started Part 9 a bit earlier than usual as I am going away on the 11th.

You can find Part 9 here:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=500342.msg3571751