Period glossary : 3
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Expressionshilling
The expression 'to take the king's shilling, meant to sign up to join the army. Rather like with the 'prest' money for the 'impressed' man, a bonus payment of a shilling was offered to tempt lowly paid workers to leave their trade (an average daily wage during the Napoleonic period was 2p (at 12p to […]
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Expressionshopkeepers
One of Napoleon's most famous remarks for the English-speaking world is 'England is a nation of shopkeepers', ('L'Angleterre est une nation de boutiquiers'). Whilst Bourrienne, Napoleon's faithful secretary from 1795 to 1802, gives a version of it in his Mémoires (vol. 1, (Paris: Ladvocat, 1831) p. 274 – “Angleterre…a people which he [Napoleon] so disdainfully used to call a nation […]
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Expressionsignal
At the Battle of Copenhagen 1801, Nelson was under the orders of the old admiral Sir Hyde Parker. Out of concern that the British fleet was getting the worst of it, Parker (who was anchored far from the action) ran up the signal flag for Nelson to disengage. Colonel William Stewart recounted Nelson's reaction (The […]